


Twelve Hours

by PetitDragons



Category: Free!
Genre: Angst, Cute, Fluff, M/M, POV Multiple
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-27
Updated: 2015-05-27
Packaged: 2018-02-14 23:19:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 25,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2206821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PetitDragons/pseuds/PetitDragons
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nagisa and Rei have had enough of the tension between Makoto and Haru. And they think they know the reasoning behind it: obviously the third years are in love with each other! So, in order to get them to resolve these unrequited feelings, Nagisa and Rei shove the two of them into a locked room for twelve hours. A fool-proof plan, right?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. First Hour

Makoto wiggled the door handle again, but it was no use. They were surely locked in. He raised his voice to call out, "Nagisa! Rei! Let us out, this is ridiculous!" His voice held exasperation but lacked any anger, even in such a predicament.

Giving up on the door, he turned to face Haru, his best friend. The more stoic boy was sitting on one of the benches, calmly fiddling with one of the straps on his bag laid next to him. His dark hair fell into his bright blue eyes although it didn't seem to bother him. Makoto could never understand how he put up with the tickling; he constantly had to push his hair back to avoid the weird sensation in his eyes. But then, Haru had always been better at controlling himself than Makoto had ever been. It was part of the reason Makoto admired him as much as he did.

He sighed wearily. It had already been such a long day, and now he was stuck in the swim club's changing room for twelve hours, if Nagisa and Rei were to be believed. Makoto had learned from experience not to take Nagisa too lightly, despite his cute and bubbly attitude - he was a force to be reckoned with. They hadn't even had a chance to do any swimming at club. As soon as Makoto and Haru had appeared, after their last class, the two second years had pushed them in here and ran off.

_"You have twelve hours to declare your love for each other!" Nagisa shouted through the door, clearly trying to assume a hint of mock anger. Really it just sounded pretty silly to Makoto. Nagisa could rarely be serious in any given situation._

_Rei had been in on it, too. "I'm sorry Haruka-senpai, Makoto-senpai, but it really is in your best interest to get these feelings out in the open. Your emotions are beginning to affect your swimming abilities, so the logical thing to do is talk about them and dismiss the negative ones as soon as possible." Trust Rei to make it about logic instead of his easily convinced nature when it came to Nagisa. Really, if anybody should be forced to consult their feelings it should be those two, Makoto thought. Their unrequited love for one another was obvious even to him, and Makoto knew full well he was pretty oblivious to a lot of things._

_"Yeah," Nagisa had added. "So hurry up and get rid of those bad feelings you two, and get to the kissing and making out. You'll feel much better!"_

_Makoto gasped, shocked. How could Nagisa be so open? It was enough to make him blush. He looked to Haru who seemed unconcerned with the whole situation, simply staring at the door impassively._

_Well he was not going to help them get out of here, was he? "Twelve hours? This is stupid, you two. It'll be, what, three a.m. by the time we get out of here if you do that?" Oh no, he couldn't be in here until three a.m. His mother would be so worried, and not to mention Ren and Ran. Who would read them their bedtime story? "Rei, if we're in here we can't do swim practice, and surely that will affect our performance more, right?"_

_Hary had looked around at that. "We're not going to swim today?" Makoto looked at him incredulously._ Well of course that would get through to him.

_"You didn't realise that before, Haru?"_

_Those bright blue eyes blinked once, then again, and then he was banging on the doors with more force and passion than Makoto could have managed. He smiled a little. There was no way that Rei, at least, would be able to stand up to Haru when he was denied the chance to swim._

_"Let me out of here right now, Nagisa! Rei!" It always surprised Makoto how loud Haru could be when he wanted to be._

_Makoto's green eyes brightened with anticipation as he heard murmurs on the other side of the door._ Ha, alright, Haru! They're surely going to let us out now. _Thank goodness. He really didn't want to be stuck in here for twelve hours._

That hope had made the crushing realisation that they really were stuck for twelve hours even more devastating when Nagisa had shouted through the doors that they were leaving. 

Makoto threw his head into his hands in despair. He couldn't believe this! It wasn't that he minded spending so much time with Haru - quite the contrary really - but all he wanted to do was go home and have some dinner and spend some time with his siblings. Not sit in a, frankly, rather dingy changing room while his stomach rumbled hungrily, and a leaky shower head dripped incessantly. Sometimes, Makoto found Nagisa really quite an unbearable friend.

It was with a heavy sigh that he moved over to the bench and sat down next to Haru. The smaller boy looked up as he moved, and faced him, blue eyes unblinking. At times it seemed to Makoto that Haru held a warmth in his eyes that only he could see. Everyone described Haru as cold or uncaring, but Makoto had never seen him in that way. When he'd been too scared to join the Swimming Club by himself when he was younger, Haru had joined with him. When Rei had been inquiring into Makoto's fear of the ocean, Haru had defended him - not that Makoto had really minded Rei asking. But the sentiment behind it was cute.

"You shouldn't get so worked up, Makoto."

That was all Haru said to him before he went back to absently playing with the bag straps, but he instantly felt a lot calmer. He hadn't been too angry to begin with, or even worked up, but he was definitely tired. Tired of Nagisa's little pranks more than anything. They'd been getting more dramatic and more frequent recently.

Makoto looked to his friend again. Once the second years had gone, with assurances that they'd be back in twelve hours, Haru had seemingly given up on being angry about missing his swimming time for the day. Again, Makoto was amazed by his friend's restraint and serenity. It was truly breathtaking.

"I'm fine," he said finally. Apparently his comment deemed worthy of a raised eyebrow from Haru: not that he turned around to show it, but Makoto saw it anyway. "Really, I am. I'm just worried about how my family's going to react when I'm so late."

Haru tsked, a hint of annoyance in his tone. "You worry too much about other people."

Makoto nodded wordlessly. He'd been told that before. Not just by Haru, but Rin as well. Kisumi had said it once before too, which he'd found a little surprising. Not because Kisumi was ignorant or because they didn't talk much, but because usually Kisumi didn't say anything negative about anybody. Although, when Kisumi had said it it hadn't sounded too bad like when Haru and Rin had told him.

"Anyway," Haru continued, unaware of Makoto's nod, "they'll be back in an hour or two. They're not going to leave us in here for the full twelve hours."

Eyebrows furrowed a little over green eyes. Makoto wasn't so sure of that. It was Nagisa, after all. 

A slightly awkward silence followed that, with Makoto unsure of what to say, and Haru being Haru. Truly, Makoto could understand why both Rei and Nagisa saw that there was tension between him and Haru, because... well, there was. Haru's utter refusal to decide solidly on a commitment to a University, or to a life of professional swimming, was driving Makoto a little insane. He hadn't told anyone, and refused to make it an issue of conflict with his best friend, but he wanted Haru to do something meaningful with his life, but all he would say was that he wanted to be 'free'. Which wasn't good enough in his books.

And he wanted to go to the same University as Haru, honestly, so he needed him to make a decision so he could. But he hadn't told that to Haru. He knew full well that Haru hated when someone was so dependent on someone else that they couldn't make their own conclusions. Makoto would rather anything else than for Haru to hate him.

Time passed slowly in the room in a silence that Makoto would describe as suffocating. He began to pace back and forth in the confined space, lost in thought. He barely noticed anything that Haru was doing until he made a sound of vexation.

"Stop pacing, Makoto!"

He stopped in his tracks right next to the door, and looked back over at his friend with an ashamed smile. "Sorry, Haru."

Haru tsked again and whipped his head to face away from his, a small pout on his lips. Makoto's smile became amused at the action. He wasn't sure if Haru realised he pouted so cutely whenever he was mad. Probably not. Haru didn't really appreciate cuteness in people.

He wandered over to Haru again, prodding him gently on the arm. "Hey, hey, Haru-chan, don't be mad." It was something he'd done when they were younger, but he knew it still had the desired effect: Haru turned to him, lips pursed together tightly in a restrained smile. Little did anybody else know that Haru was really ticklish in that one spot on his upper bicep. Only Makoto knew.

Pale hands swatted the finger away. "Don't call me Haru-chan."

"I won't call you it if you stop ignoring me!" Makoto teased.

Haru added a small frown to his facial expression. "I wasn't ignoring you. You were pacing. You want me to talk to you when you're being annoying?" He let out a puff of air from his nose, a small snort. "I won't do that, Makoto."

Makoto held out his hands in an open expression of apology. "I didn't know I was being annoying though, Haru," he whined. Hmm, that sounded irritating even to his own ears. Okay, time to diffuse the situation before it got worse: Haru's frown had deepened at his tone. "Hey, do you wanna play I-spy? There's nothing better to do right?"

Those eyes stared unblinkingly for a few seconds before they fluttered off to the side and right back again. That was when Makoto knew he'd managed to subdue the other. He did a small celebratory 'whoop' in his head.

"Okay,” he said, thinking, “I'll go first. I spy with my little eye something beginning with... 'B'."

Haru peered around the room surreptitiously, trying not to look enthusiastic, Makoto thought. Well, he probably wasn't at all enthusiastic anyway - he more likely just didn't want to look like he was trying. Makoto didn't mind though; that was just Haru's way.

"Bench?" Makoto shook his head. "Bag?"

He clapped excitedly. "Yes! Well done, Haru-chan! It only took you two guesses!" Granted, there were only two things in the room that began with 'B', but it never hurt to applaud other people's successes. 

Clearly Haru knew that he was being over the top as well though, from the scathing look he received, but he just smiled widely. "Your turn, Haru."

And that was how they spent the first hour: playing I-spy.


	2. Second Hour

Haruka sighed miserably as he stared down at the paper on his lap. He really disliked maths - it was so restrictive. Either you were right or wrong. No debating. No freedom. And it served no purpose in the long run for him anyway. 

Damn Makoto. Why'd he have to get in his head that doing their homework was the most sensible thing to do if they were going to be stuck for so long? It wasn't like it was even important unless they were struggling with the syllabus - which they weren't. 

He looked to the broad boy. Makoto was gnawing on the end of the pencil he was meant to be writing with, a look of bewilderment painting his face; scrunched up nose and head tilted to the right slightly. He'd always made the same expression when he was confused, ever since they were children.

Haruka looked down at the work again. It didn't seem too difficult at all. Simultaneous equations were pretty easy to figure out once you knew the substitution method. Which Makoto surely did. Why was he so stuck on it? A small shake of his head demonstrated his frustration at his friend. Maybe he should be paying more attention in class if he was finding it so difficult.

Makoto let out a deep breath, erasing what he'd written five minutes ago. Haruka rolled his eyes. Perhaps he should help. _So frustrating,_ he thought. _I wish I could just swim. I'm so close to the pool, but so far too._ It just wasn't fair.

He scooted closer to his friend, refusing to make eye contact, and leaned over to look at the problem. He was only on the second equation! They'd been at this for fifteen minutes already. There was absolutely no way that he could be finding it quite so hard.

"Oh, Haru, I just can't do it!" Makoto whined pitifully. If Haruka was someone to be influenced by that sort of sorrowful tone he would have immediately hugged the other boy. As it was, Haruka was not one of those people. Instead, he shot his friend a look that he hoped showed all of his irritation at his moaning, and snatched the sheet out of his hand.

The equation he was having troubles with read:

2x - y = 1  
3x + 2y = 33

Haruka could easily see where Makoto had gone wrong. He knew the method, he'd just messed up by trying to make the two 'y' variables the same instead of the 'x's. He said as much and received an even more confused look in return.

"You can't take minus two away from positive two to make zero,” Haru said calmly. “What you have to do is make the two 'x's the same because they're both positive: plus six take away plus six equals zero. Do you understand?"

Makoto nodded uncertainly. "I think so. So if I do that, I get... " He began to scribble down his workings. Haruka watched, uninterested. It didn't seem as though Makoto was really having trouble with the method, but more like he just wasn't really paying attention to the details.

After a few seconds, and a bit of mouth scrunching up to one side when he was deep in thought, the struggling boy turned back to Haruka, showing him his workings.

"So," Makoto observed, "'y' equals nine, right?"

Haruka nodded. "Yes. Now substitute the 'y' value back into the initial equation and it's easy algebra to calculate what 'x' is."

A very happy grin spread across Makoto's face as he thanked him for his help. Haruka didn't respond, not finding it necessary to. Hopefully he wouldn't be expected to help any more, finding the whole ordeal completely boring. Even more boring than the I-spy game they'd been playing before. Both that, and now the homework, had been Makoto's suggestion and Haruka hadn't actually agreed to either. He always managed to find himself doing what Makoto wanted whether he felt like doing it or not. Haruka blamed his friend's easy nature. If he said no then Makoto would just end up doing nothing. It was a weak quality in a person.

Makoto's gentle voice brought him out of his thoughts again. "Have you already finished the worksheet, Haru?"

The sheet had taken him only ten minutes to complete. He'd considered doing the extra questions they'd been set but he couldn't really be bothered. A lot of extra work for no good reason.

At his nod, Makoto eyes widened and travelled down to his own work. He slumped momentarily before turning to Haruka enthusiastically, with a childish expression of glee. As so often when he was trying to show he was happier than he was, Makoto's green eyes disappeared behind his eyelids. Haruka didn't like it when the other boy did that. It felt like a forced happiness to him. Yeah, occasionally when Makoto did it it was genuine, but more likely than not, the bearing denoted a dishonesty. Such fake attitudes were insulting to him.

He _did_ wonder whether this was a real look of joy or not though. And if it was fake, why?

"You're so clever, Haru. I wish I could understand things just half as easily as you! Then I wouldn't have to spend so much time studying!" Makoto laughed a little at that, as though it had been a joke.

Haruka shook his head again. "You only need to study so much," his voice sounded bossy without meaning to. _Oh well, he needs someone to boss him about anyway. Might as well be me_ , "because you don't pay enough attention. You focus too much on socialising in class and not on the lesson." 

Well, he hadn't meant to say that. Whether Makoto decided to socialise with others or not was none of his concern. And it had never bothered him before. Except maybe when he'd run off with Kisumi to Basketball Club back in Middle School. Not that he'd been jealous, of course. It was just... Makoto wouldn't have liked to play basketball that much anyway, but he didn't have the courage to say no to Kisumi himself. Again, it was a weakness in his character. Haruka sometimes didn't understand how he put up with such a faint-hearted friend.

Makoto had opened his eyes, taking on his hurt puppy dog look. He was so easy to read; why was that? Haruka sighed though. He hadn't meant to upset his friend like that. Next Makoto would apologise for upsetting him and he really didn't want to deal with that awkwardness.

He went to open his mouth to apologise himself, but the words died on his tongue at Makoto's next sentence.

"I don't think that's fair, Haru."

Was Makoto finally standing up for himself? The thought shook Haruka hard. He'd definitely not expected that sort of reaction from the gentle-mannered man. Having no idea of what to say to that, he remained silent and waited for Makoto to continue.

"I," Makoto took a deep breath as if preparing himself for a battle. "I don't spend too much time socialising: I just like talking to people. And anyway you're the one who spends most of the lesson staring at the window." Haruka's eyes widened in shock, but Makoto wasn't done. "You don't know what it's like finding things difficult. You always found everything so easy - even making friends is easy for you, and you don't have to do anything. People are just drawn to you, because of your swimming or because of your calm nature!"

For a few moments he looked as though he wanted to continue, but Haruka could physically see him swallow anything else that had seemed likely to come out. Why wouldn't he just speak his mind? If what he'd just said was only the tip of the iceberg, then who knew how much he was sitting on. 

Makoto apologised and went back to his work, pointedly avoiding his gaze when he tried to capture it.

Haruka's thoughts were whizzing. He had never known that Makoto felt that way about his friends. Haruka hadn't noticed that people were so drawn to him - he knew people always said he was beautiful when he swam, but that was it. _Did_ he draw people to him? He supposed so. It had been that way with Rin, hadn't it, back in Elementary School? Rin had spotted him swimming at a local swimming meet, and suddenly moved schools at the end of the school year in order to swim with Haruka. _But he'd wanted to swim with Makoto and Nagisa too, right?_ Haruka shrugged uncomfortably.

They both settled into an uncomfortable silence. Makoto had a look of deep worry on his face: probably worried that he'd offended Haruka. _He always worries too much_ , Haruka thought absently.

"Why are you so worried about the exams, Makoto?" he asked quietly. He knew the answer, but he was half hoping that it would draw another strong response from the other. Haruka was more than curious about all the thoughts that his best friend was suppressing. He was oblivious about how to dig them out as it had never been necessary to drag Makoto's thoughts out of him. Makoto was what Haruka thought would be described as an open-book: he never hid anything from anybody. Until now, that was.

Makoto's expression was very serious now, and his eyes looked sad. _Why is he sad?_

"Because I want to pass and go onto University. Why are you so unconcerned by the exams?"

The answer was obvious, but the return question was unexpected. Haruka wasn't so sure about what to respond. He'd never been a great lover of school, or school work, but he'd never been quite so uncaring about serious exams before. He supposed it would seem odd to Makoto: someone who noticed his every action in minute detail for some reason.

He shrugged off the question, deciding not to answer it. Makoto's lip curled up in a look of disgust briefly. Huh. "What do you want to study at University?"

"I don't know yet. What do you want to do?"

What was with all these return questions that Haruka had no answer to? He went with another roll of his shoulders and dropped the subject completely. That hadn't gone the way he'd wanted it to. Unless those questions were what was eating Makoto up inside. It could be possible that such a worrisome guy would only wonder and worry about other people.

Haruka sighed again. He hated it when people were busybodies in that way, preferring just to be left alone instead. The tension between the two of them because of Makoto's perpetual brooding was getting worse every day. Would it come to a head when they were both forced to bear each other's company for so long with no escape? Haruka had no idea. The two of them hadn't ever really fought before. Makoto was easy to subdue, and Haruka didn't tend to seek out confrontation if he could avoid it. He wasn't sure they'd be able to avoid if they were stuck for much longer. It had only been two hours and they were already fighting.

He tried to divert his thoughts; thinking about the possibility of outcomes was pointless.

The dripping of the shower head behind him kept a steady rhythm. Drip. Beat. Beat. Beat. Drip. Haruka found it kind of soothing after a while, dropping his head back to rest on the lockers and closing his eyes. Only another hour at most, he was sure of it. Nagisa and Rei wouldn't really lock them in there for twelve hours. That was completely unthinkable. 

Only another hour at most.


	3. Third Hour

When he'd been younger, Makoto's mother had told him that the best way to make friends was to just put yourself out there; you'd make no friends by closing yourself in. So, Makoto had tried. Unfortunately, his shyness had always managed to damage his chances with new friends. Talking to strangers seemed scary - what if they were mean, or rude, or just didn't like him?

So, he'd gone against his mothers advice. He locked himself away. His tentative smile and small gestures of kindness were often overlooked by his peers. Why would they want to be friends with somebody so quiet, somebody so frail? Surely he could be no fun.

For a while, it seemed as though he wouldn't ever be able to make any friends.

Then he'd met Haru. 

_Equally as quiet as himself, Haru usually sat unnoticed in the kindergarten classes. Nobody ever seemed to talk to him, other than the teachers, and whenever someone tried to he tended to brush them off with a shake of the head or something similar. Makoto didn't understand it at first, unable to reason out why somebody would shun such advances from other people. Was he shy like him?_

_After a week or so of watching the pale boy, Makoto finally worked up the courage to go over and talk to him. It had been terrifying, fear bubbling in his stomach at the thought of those cold, blue eyes turning him away._

_"H-hi," he said as loudly as he could manage. An intense burning had risen in his cheeks at his stutter, but that quickly dissipated as those eyes rose to meet his own. Time seemed to slow as they blinked at him curiously, scanning him mercilessly for an answer as to why he was there. The scrutiny of them seemed unfitting of such a young boy, but Makoto found himself unable to even squirm in unease. He just stared back in surprise, finally understanding._

_Those eyes weren't cold. A little distant, maybe, but they weren't the eyes of somebody unfriendly. To Makoto, at least, they were showing a certain reservedness, but a comfortable kind of reserved. Makoto thought that Haru was just one of those people who wasn't fond of getting close to anyone and everyone. He was reserving his friendship for somebody who deserved it._

_Suddenly, once he was done considering the strange interruption, Haru seemed to put the intrusion out of his mind and went back to his drawing. Makoto could draw breath again after what had felt like a lifetime. Undeterred by the action of the raven haired other, Makoto decided to peer over his shoulder at the artwork he was producing._

_In spite of their age the drawing was pretty impressive. It was a marine environment: a drawing of a dolphin and a mermaid swimming together surrounded by coral and fish._ Cute, _Makoto thought. He hadn't expected Haru to like the idea of mermaids._

_"Your drawing's really good, Haru-chan."_

_His childish voice had sounded high and a little shaky, but for the first time in his life Makoto had made it through a sentence to someone of a similar age without stuttering. The realisation caused him to blush again, but a small smile had accompanied it this time rather than embarrassment._

_Haru had flickered his eyes in his direction again, a look of disgruntlement plain on his face. "I don't like being called Haru-chan. My name is Haruka."_

_Humming in agreement, Makoto moved to sit next to the other boy, watching him carefully for an idea of what he was thinking. "I know your name, but Haru-chan sounds cuter, don't you think?"_

_"Names aren't meant to sound cute. They're meant to serve a purpose."_

_"A purpose?" Makoto wondered aloud. He didn't fully understood what Haru meant by that; obviously he had a much higher intelligence level than the normal seven year old._

_"Yes," Haru had said, an obvious awkward edge to his tone. Maybe he just wasn't so used to saying so many words at once? "Names are just a way to identify people. Without names what would we call each other?"_

_Makoto 'ohh'ed in understanding. That made sense he supposed._

_Haru turned to face him completely then. "Why are you talking to me, Makoto?"_

_A surge of inexplicable happiness warmed his entire body at those words. Haru knew his name! He most certainly hadn't expected that!_

_But how did he answer that question?_ Honesty is the best quality of a friend. _His mother's voice rang out in his mind. That was it. If he wanted to be friends with Haru then he had to be honest from the get go._

_"Well," he started, heat flooding his cheeks yet again, "because I thought you were shy like me, and... if we're both quiet we could be friends. Maybe?"_

_He tried for a friendly smile, but only got a blank look in return. His heart sank. For some reason, he really thought that with him stepping up and being so brave, Haru would surely admire him for that. Maybe he really just wasn't the person that his friendliness was being reserved for. His eyes began to sting and he hurriedly turned his head, trying his best not to let anyone see he was wiping at them with his sleeves. Why did he have to cry? Now nobody would be friends with him!_

_A sound of annoyance left Haru, and the fight against his tears was almost completely lost. But then those pale hands were in front of him, holding out a tissue._

_"If you're going to cry," that calm voice announced, "you shouldn't get your top dirty."_

Ever since then, the two of them had been best friends. Makoto was sometimes unsure of why Haru had bothered to continue talking to him when he was so bad at controlling his emotions, but mostly he was just grateful. If not for Haru, Makoto wasn't sure that he would have ever broken out of his shell.

Because Haru had an unbreakable dedication to his stoic attitude, he tended not to talk to people if he could help it. It wasn't shyness, that was for sure. Makoto had figured that one out very quickly. Haru was mostly very uncaring of people's opinions and thoughts about him, so there was nothing to fear from social interaction for the most part. No, if anything, he just found it boring. But due to that, it meant that if he didn't want to talk to people he just ignored them. Makoto had been raised not to do that, and his shyness meant that he would feel terrible if he accidentally upset or hurt anybody anyway, so he'd begun answering for Haru as well as himself. And, well, you couldn't be shy if you were forced to talk enough for two people.

Now most people would consider him downright talkative. Sometimes he found himself talking about what seemed like nothing just because the sound of silence put him on edge so much. Having done such a one-eighty on societal interactions Makoto now found it difficult when there was silence, thinking that he was doing a poor job of fulfilling his role.

So, the silence between him and the boy who taught him to be himself was quickly becoming unbearable.

It felt even worse when he knew that it was partly his fault. He shouldn't have snapped at Haru. It wasn't Haru's fault that he didn't have to work hard to get grades. And it definitely wasn't his fault that people were drawn to him - after all, that was how their relationship had begun, wasn't it?

He let out a forlorn sigh. Haru had begun to look a little annoyed at their closed-in proximity, probably realising that they were really stuck for the full twelve hours. Maybe not though, knowing how stubborn he was.

The silence was truly suffocating.

"Once upon a time," he said slowly. Haru's head twitched at the sound, "there was a Prince who lived in a castle by the ocean. The castle was stunning, as befit of a royal family; a true spectacle of the Kingdom. People flocked for miles, and miles just to get a glimpse of it. The outside walls stretched up to the clouds, some said, with twists of vines and flowers dancing across it in a pattern of green, red, blue, and purple.

"The castle itself stood even higher than the walls, a pure expanse of white topped with blue, tall spires running off it at intervals. It was a symbol of the purity of the Kingdom, devoid of corruption, of crime, of all things bad."

Haru was frowning at him, clearly confused. "Makoto, what are you talking about?" 

He ignored him. It was a story he'd told to Ren and Ran so many times that he knew it by heart. It was Ran's favourite, and although Ren said he didn't like it he didn't ever protest when it was suggested by his sister. Makoto smiled fondly at the thought of his brother and sister. _I hope they're going to be fine without their story tonight. Oh, Nagisa, why must you have such silly ideas?_

"Prince Masao himself was even more sought out than the castle itself,” he continued, ignoring the slight blush of embarrassment he got from Haru's intense look. “He was noble, and strong, renowned for his courage, and kindness. Princesses and girls from all the lands dreamt of being his wife, and probably a few boys too, but he had no interest in marrying. His only concern was his family.

"Close with his younger sister, Shizuka, and best friends with his brother, Akio, the three of them were shining examples of sibling love. Parents told tales of their adoration and harmony to their own in attempts to have such kind and loving children, but to no avail. No bond could ever be as strong as the royals' was. The King and Queen were ecstatic with their offspring and the Kingdom of peace and tranquility they offered to their people. Everything was perfect.

"But it couldn't stay that way forever."

Makoto felt more than saw Haru's over the top eye roll at that line.

"One day, the Prince was taking a stroll with his sister on the beach front, listening to the waves as they rolled onto the shore and back. It was a beautiful day as always, the sand a warm yellow, the sky a bright blue, the trees brandishing a vivid green. As they walked they spoke quietly of the what the future held for them.

"'Brother,' Shizuka said, voice smooth as a well polished pebble on the seafront, 'what do you think the future will hold for us?'

"Prince Masao paused, keeping his thoughts silent for a few moments. 'I do not know, sister. Likely I will have to marry soon as I am the next in line for the throne and will soon need to produce an heir. Hopefully the day I take it is far off.'

"Shizuka nodded, her golden hair waving in the gentle breeze. 'Yes, yes it will be far off. But when that day comes, we will all be forced apart.' Hearing the small break in her voice as she uttered those words made Masao's heart jump. He could never have expected the sadness such a few words could carry. 

"His next words, ready to assure that they would not be separated for a long time yet, died on the tip of tongue as a melodious sound floated by on the wind.”

“I'm going to guess it's a mermaid, right?”

“Haru,” Makoto whined. “Why do you keep interrupting?”

The other boy waved away the conversation, crossing his arms tightly. So, this wasn't going to well. He soldiered on anyway, sure Haru would like the story eventually.

"It was the most magical sound he'd ever heard."

A snort of derision broke off his next words and he sent the smaller boy a small glare that was easily ignored.

"A wordless tune, carrying all the sounds of sadness, and despair he had ever heard drifted by. If a sound could express a tear, it would be this sound. Yet it was harmonious. He felt a calmness wash over him and seep into his bones, dismissing all thoughts from his brain. Immediately it was followed by an urgency. An urgency to find the voice.

"Quickly, he un-linked arms with his sister and moved towards the sea, cries of the Princess on his heels asking him where he was going and why. He knew nothing except that he must find the voice of the enchanting singing.

"As he swam further and further out into sea, his sister began to worry. Of course, the Prince could swim - they had been brought up by the sea, after all - but he was still in his heavy clothes, he could be dragged down at any second. And, more importantly, there were the tales of mutilated women in the water who could lure men to their watery graves. Shizuka ran back towards the castle, holding up her skirts as she ran, sand flying everywhere.

"The Prince swam for what seemed a lifetime, the need inside him becoming more and more pressing as time slipped by. Suddenly, he found himself staring at a dark haired beauty, big violet eyes watching him under the longest eyelashes he'd ever set eyes on. She wore only a strip of cloth around her chest and underneath her waist where her legs should be was a fishtail. Her mouth was open, luscious red lips serenading him with their ethereal music. 

"All he could do was stare up at the mermaid. Tales had spread of the creatures, tales of enchantment and tales of murder. Supposedly they were monsters to be feared, capable of luring sailors and fishermen to their deaths. Even the odd story of a woman disappearing into the unknown waters had circulated once or twice. But as he was staring up at the woman, he couldn't understand any of that. How could anything so beautiful hurt anybody, let alone kill?”

Makoto looked over to his friend, trying to work up some moisture into his mouth. Maybe this hadn't been the best idea. His mouth was dry from talking, and they only had the one bottle of water between them to last the rest of the eight or so hours. Hmm, that was actually really worrying. Perhaps the water from the showers was drinkable? He wasn't so sure really. Haru was watching him impassively still, but not talking anymore. Makoto continued with his story again.

"The music began to fade, as the mermaid finished her song. As it slowed, the Prince's memories and thoughts got sharper and less dull. But even then he wasn't scared. Those violet eyes were studying him. 

"'Usually this is when you start to scream," the beauty told him. 

“Masao found himself laughing, so quickly apologised. 'I'm sorry, but why would anyone scream? Your singing was so beautiful. I would like to hear more of it, if you would not mind, fair lady.'

“She seemed uncertain at that, hesitating before she spoke again. 'Have you not heard the stories, young human?'

'Yes," he confirmed. What was the use in lying? Obviously the rumours were false. 'But I cannot believe such foul things of such a beautiful creature.'”

"This story is too long," Haru muttered petulantly. That small pout of his had returned, but he was clearly listening intently. 

"I'm almost done, Haru, just listen."

"But I know how it will end. The Prince falls in love with the mermaid, and she falls in love with him and they get married and she becomes queen. It's like the Little Mermaid."

"No, not quite. Now shush."

"'You would be foolish to dismiss them so easily.' She was holding out a hand for him, and so he took it, allowing himself to be half pulled up onto the rock. 'Tell me, who are you to be so foolish?'

"Prince Masao laughed at the evaluation. 'Foolish is not something I have been called before, fair lady. I am Prince Masao. I live in that castle over there, see?' He pointed to it, but she didn't look. Instead, her eyes widened and she made as if to push him back into the water, hand fluttering uneasily.

"'You are the Prince? Well then you must leave. We do not want to incur the wrath of your family and people. Please. We are not hurting anybody here - our songs attract you sometimes, we do not know why!' Her voice had become urgent, but that beautiful undertone was still there, drawing him in. 'Sometimes you will not leave, and so we let you stay. But nobody is ever hurt, I promise.'

"That was strange. 'How can they stay?" he asked. "We humans cannot hold our breath underwater.'

"She was nodding before he finished. 'There are spells.'"

"So," Haru interrupted again, "he ends up living with her underwater? Well, that's a better ending than the other I suppose."

Makoto slumped, giving up on his story. "You weren't meant to guess the ending, you know."

A small smile lit up that usually stoic face, so Makoto returned one of his own. "I think this ending is sadder though. Masao gives up a life with his family for a life underwater in a world he doesn't know." He shook his head. "And his responsibilities! He just dropped them all!"

"Maybe all the expectation was too much for him."

Makoto hummed. Maybe. 

"You don't understand." Haru was speaking quietly, looking down at his hands as if he hadn't seen them before. "The water is a metaphor for escape, for freedom. By choosing the water, he's escaping from his problems. Nobody's life is so perfect that they don't get stressed out. 

Oh. Well, Makoto had never thought of it that way. He'd always just assumed that the love the Prince had felt for the mermaid was stronger than that for his family, and that's why he'd gone. Maybe it was the way Haru was saying though. It was more poetic, which was usually the point of those children stories.

Haru wasn't done analysing though. "Really, it's unfair to think that anybody should have to give up their way of life for anybody else though." He turned to face Makoto, eyes shining brighter than he'd ever seen and staring right into his green. His pale neck was slightly more exposed as he had to raise his head to do so, and Makoto could clearly make out Haru's Adam's Apple as he spoke.

"We should all be able to be free, Makoto. Free from having to make those sort of sacrifices, free from those sort of responsibilites. But then, isn't being free from everything sort of restrictive in its own way? Being free brings a responsibility of its own."

A silence swept over them once more, and Makoto fidgeted uncomfortably. Unlike Haru, Makoto wasn't fond of philosophising and the like. Honestly he didn't really understand what his friend had just said. How could being free bring its own responsibility? That didn't make any sense. Freedom was pretty much the opposite. 

He realised that he was staring at Haru's neck and that Haru was still staring at him. He trailed his eyes up, seeming to take in every inch and plane of Haru's face as they moved, and then they were staring into those deep, blue pools. 

Makoto had always found it fitting that Haru's eyes resembled the colour of the ocean so closely. Makoto found the ocean intimidating still, despite everything that had happened on that training day, but he could also find a calmness in it that had been missing before his talk with Haru. Sometimes Haru could be that way too, intimidating yet calming. Maybe that was why so many people were attracted to him just as they were to the sea.

The deep concentration of one another that the two were experiencing had never happened before, and Makoto didn't quite know what to make of it. Luckily, he didn't have to take the initiative. Haru whipped his head to one side in that pouty way of his again, but there was a clear rosiness to his cheeks which Makoto was definitely unused to seeing. 

His eyes widened as he realised that the look they'd been sharing had been a little on the romantic side. _But it's not like Nagisa said! Haru's my friend, and that's all!_ Best friends didn't tend to look deep into one another's eyes like that for a suspended amount of time though. Unless he'd been doing the whole friend thing wrong all these years. 

Makoto couldn't have any feelings for his best friend, it was impossible. Completely impossible. So, why did it feel like there was a hoard of butterflies thrashing about wildly in his stomach?


	4. Fourth Hour

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little bit of a filler chapter; the next one will be much more action packed, and longer! Hope you enjoy, nonetheless!

Haruka watched as his friend moved over to the door, a blush evident in his cheeks. Feeling more than a little subdued after the conversation they'd just had, Haruka couldn't even work up the curiosity to question what Makoto was doing. Instead, he just watched, mind blank of any thought that wasn't mostly depressing. Sometimes, Haruka truly wished he could just turn his thoughts off and have a little bit of silent time in his head.

Wouldn't that be the day.

Makoto was crouching over his bag which had just fallen over, revealing a basketball. He'd been carrying the thing around all day. Haruka found it kind of annoying. Basketball was such a boring sport anyway; you just threw a ball into a hoop and that was that. Maybe it was more exciting if you were like Makoto and tall enough to make a real impact on the court. Damn Makoto. Who asked him to be so tall anyway?

That repetitive dripping sound of the showerhead was now being dominated by the horrible sound of the ball dribbling on the tiled floor. It made an odd sort of echo, managing to irritate Haruka on each and every side of the room. Just when he'd thought nothing could get worse, Makoto had to remember his ball! Why had Makoto been thinking about it anyway? Not for the first time, Haruka baffled over the way other people's minds worked.

Makoto was avoiding his gaze now, which he wouldn't have minded usually, truth be told, but now he couldn't understand it. True, their conversation followed by an unreasonable amount of staring had been more than just odd, but he was completely overreacting if he was going to ignore him now. Makoto always managed to get shy over the silliest things. 

"Do you wanna play a game, Haru?" the tall boy asked after a while of bouncing the ball aimlessly.

Haruka deigned not to answer, turning his head away. Why would he want to play basketball? And they couldn't in such a space. There was barely six paces lengthways across the room, and there were no nets. Makoto's urge to constantly suggest games and ideas was starting to get on his nerves, honestly. Couldn't he just sit in quiet and wait for Nagisa and Rei to come back. Surely it would be any minute now. He was still stubbornly holding onto the belief that they wouldn't leave them there for twelve hours. What would they eat?

Makoto was looking at him with his head cocked to one side, as if trying to figure out what he was thinking. Haruka averted his eyes once more; staring out of the corner of his vision managed to strain sometimes, giving him a headache. The last thing he wanted with all the annoying noises was a headache. 

He heard a sigh from the other side of the room followed by more hits of the ball on the floor. That sound was going to drive him insane! 

"I thought you liked basketball, Haru." Makoto's voice was quiet and very gentle. So he wasn't angry, or even embarrassed, if he sounded so calm. Why had he been blushing and ignoring his look then?

He shook his head to the unspoken question, slowly turning an inch so he could see the brunet without hurting his eyes. He kept his chin up high in a way he only did when he was making it very obvious that he was going to be stubborn. Makoto would know it well.

A hum was the only response he got from the other boy. It was a bizarre idea for Makoto to have. Haruka had never shown the slightest interest in basketball except for when Makoto had thought of joining that club instead of the swimming one. But, Haruka hadn't wanted to join it for fun. Makoto must have known that Haruka didn't want to swim without him there, which is why Makoto had eventually changed. Simple logic.

The sound of the ball's bouncing had changed from a reverberating, almost empty, tune into a fuller as Makoto began to hit and throw it to the wall.

"I think Kisumi will be worried," Makoto said after a time. His tone was still quiet, but an edge of worry had eaten its way into it. "We were meant to meet up after school and play for a while. About an hour ago. I'd forgotten though, which is really bad of me." He sighed sadly, apparently really troubled by the fact he'd not remembered a stupid basketball game because he'd had bigger concerns.

Haruka narrowed his eyes momentarily, and stood up. There was no chance he was going to sit and listen to Makoto whine about Kisumi. So he had to distract the other. 

"Fine, I'll play," he said, kind of already regretting his words. That was what happened when you didn't think before speaking.

However, when his friend's face lit up exponentially, he felt quite a bit better about it. Anything that made Makoto happy couldn't be a bad thing, could it? 

Listening to Makoto explain the rules of their impromptu game took a couple of minutes. They were to stand on either side of the room, Makoto by the door and Haruka by the wall opposite. Those were the 'halves'. The ball would be in the middle, and on the count of three they'd run to get it. The goal was a specified spot above the door for Haruka, and on top of the wall where Haruka had started for Makoto. It wasn't a well thought out game by any means, but then they had their limits. A lot of limits.

As they stood facing each other, Haruka took a moment to just look at his friend. Sometimes when he looked at Makoto, Haruka just couldn't believe how big he'd gotten. When they were little, and Makoto had been afraid of everything, he'd always hidden behind Haruka's slightly taller stature. He still did now when he got scared - looking absolutely laughable in Haruka's opinion. One day, the larger boy was going to have to look out for himself.

But now, Makoto stood almost half a foot taller than he himself; making this game so completely pointless. How was he meant to win when he could be so easily blocked by the other boy? 

This was going to be so embarrassing for him.

"Okay," Makoto called out. "On three. One. Two."

Haruka looked to the ball, trying his best to concentrate. Although he didn't really care at the outcome, he'd still give it his best. There was no use in doing anything half hearted.

"Three."

They both leapt from their places, Makoto reaching the ball first after only a step. _Damn!_ Haruka went to defend his 'goal' but only managed to serve as background scenery as he watched Makoto jump and throw, the ball sailing straight over his head and to the point which counted as a goal.

That had taken less than ten seconds.

Makoto grinned guiltily as he caught the rebound. "Sorry," he apologised. A hand had gone behind his head to rub the back of his neck again. Had Haruka ever told him that the action made him irritated? Probably not. Why would he tell him when it was such a petty annoyance, and one for which he had no reason to be irritated by?

They reset the 'court' and replayed a few more times. After another five easy goals by the obviously better player, Haruka noticed that Makoto had begun to make a conscious effort to let Haruka win the ball at the beginning. And when even that didn't help much, he started to defend lazily. All in all, it just made Haruka angry, eventually he thrust the ball down in a temper, it flinging back up to hit him in the face.

Grasping his face as it throbbed painfully, he shrugged off the flapping Makoto and sat back down on the bench. _Damn that basketball. And damn Makoto._ He was too tall! Haruka had been doomed from the start!

"Haru, are you alright? Do you need ice or something? We don't have any ice, but, um, I have some water!" Makoto was worrying enough for about thirty mothers and grandmothers put together, which wasn't improving his mood. Haruka just wanted some quiet, why couldn't Makoto understand? Usually he read him so well, but lately... lately everything had been changing.

He slapped away Makoto's hand once again, with a snap, "Makoto, stop!" Immediately the fuss lessened. Peace at last!

He opened an eye - the other closed due to the pain. Since when did a ball to the face hurt so much?! - to find Makoto knelt in front of him, staring up with eyes wide. A smile replaced any bad expression he'd been holding as soon as he looked at him, though. 

"I'm really sorry, Haru."

Haruka tsked. "Why are you sorry? I threw the ball. Stop trying to take responsibility for my own actions, Makoto. You don't control everything I do."

Makoto looked down at the floor at that, seemingly hurt by the comment. "I'm sorry," he repeated. "I didn't mean to do that. I didn't even know you felt... I'm sorry for making you play. I knew you didn't like basketball. I just thought that... it would be fun. Sorry."

Reaching out a hand to rest on Makoto's cheek, Haruka let the other boy know that he hadn't meant to be mean. Green eyes sparkled up at him with unshed tears. 

Just as he was about to open his mouth to also apologise for the way he'd been for the past few hours, voices appeared outside the door. Both heads turned quickly, Makoto's with a frown. Haruka wasn't exactly sure what his face looked like, but from the way Makoto smiled wryly at it, it was probably a physical depiction of 'I told you so'.

They both made their way to the door, Haruka finally lowering his hand from his face. The stinging had reduced to a faint burn now; still painful, but not tearfully so. He hoped it wouldn't bruise, not wanting to deal with all of Makoto's worrying and apologising.

Makoto already had an ear to the door so Haruka refrained on copying.

"I can definitely hear Nagisa's voice," Makoto said, confirming Haruka's suspicions. Of course they weren't going to leave them locked away for twelve hours! "I can't make out Rei," Makoto continued, "but I think he's just being quieter. I dunno."

"What are they saying?"

Makoto shook his head, moving back from the door. "I'm not sure. I could only hear a faint murmuring, even from Nagisa. I don't think they meant for us to hear even that."

Haruka resisted the urge to sigh, instead fixating his intent stare to the door. Rei and Nagisa were in big trouble as soon as they were let out.


	5. Fifth Hour

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys! So, firstly, thanks for all the interest in this story; it's really awesome to know that you are enjoying it and want to continue to read it. Secondly, I'm sorry this took a while to update, but hopefully this chapter makes up for it!

Makoto moved out of the way allowing Haru to press his ear to the door. His eyes took on a deep intensity as he strained to hear through the heavy door, unblinking. It didn't look like he was going to let Makoto in on what he was hearing, so the taller boy resigned himself to remain in the dark. 

Speaking of dark, the room's artificial lights were flickering on and off every now and then, as if the bulbs were dying, making him nervous. His fear of the dark, if anything, had just worsened over time, and he wasn't fond of the idea of sitting in the dark for several more hours. A shiver ran through him at the thought, so he banged on the door with a heavy fist. Haru jumped back at the sound, fixing him with a soft frown.

With an apologetic smile, Makoto raised his voice loud enough to be heard outside. "Nagisa!" he called to no response. He could still hear the faint sound of conversation on the other side of the door, but apparently they were choosing to ignore him and Haru.

"Nagisa, let us out. You can't keep us in here for the whole night!"

A familiar voice spoke out from behind him. "Yes he can, Makoto. Surely you know Nagisa well enough to know he'll keep his word?" 

_Rin?_ Surely enough, the red headed boy was stood in front of him and Haru as they turned around. He stood in a cocky stance, one knee bent, and a large mocking grin spread across his face. In his hands were two Tupperware boxes with what looked like rice, and two water bottles.

But how had he gotten in?

Haru was staring curiously at the newcomer, eyes tracing him as if searching for a clue about his arrival. Seeing as he wasn't going to ask, Makoto asked the question of himself.

"Well," Rin answered, setting down the items he was holding, "that would be telling. Can't go telling you all my secrets now, can I, Makoto? Then I'd have to kill you." That grin managed to get even bigger, pointy teeth glinting dangerously in the unnatural light. Makoto shifted uncomfortably, casting a sideways glance to the boy beside him, before putting on a gentle smile. Rin wouldn't hurt him, anyway. It was just those teeth: they were so... unsettling sometimes.

"But why are you here, Rin?" Haru gave him an impatient look at the question, so he shot him a questioning one of his own to no avail. Hmm.

Rin watched the exchange with a look of knowing, before answering slowly, his smile a little toned down. "You think we were gonna let you starve and go hungry? That'd just make poor Haru angry, and an angry Haru can't get all his... stunted feelings of love out for you, silly." His voice took on a mocking tone which made Haru glare, shooting daggers at their old team-mate. If looks could kill, Makoto would be really worried for Rin's safety. 

The angry look was softened slightly by the obvious redness of his nose.

The room settled into yet another uncomfortable silence, so Makoto, once again, decided to make more conversation with Rin. "You were in on this stupid idea too, Rin?"

"Stupid?" came the surprised retort. "Wow, you're getting angry too, Makoto." A loud guffaw echoed around the tiled room as Rin laughed to himself. Makoto smiled slightly, although confused.

"Aw. I don't see how this a stupid idea though," Rin continued, raising a hand to wipe away obviously imaginary tears. He hadn't been laughing _that_ hard. "You two just need a push to confess to one another - honestly, how you two managed to avoid it this long is beyond me. Especially you, Makoto - and we can all return to normal."

Heat flooded into his cheeks as he blushed a deep red. Why especially him? He and Haru were only good friends, and nothing more. Casting away recent memories of a pale neck and bright blue eyes, Makoto kept his head down as he listened to Haru finally making an appearance in the conversation.

"You're an idiot, Rin." Well, that hadn't been what Makoto had been expecting. Apparently, nor had Rin, as his ruby eyes narrowed with an air of menacing. "You shouldn't let your romantic tendencies get the better of you."

Shark-teeth made another appearance in a failed attempt at a smile. It looked more like a grimace to Makoto. "Listen up, Haru, I'm not the only one who's seen the bloody sexual tension -" Makoto squeaked quietly. _The what!?_ "- between you two for the past God knows how long, so get off your high horse and fucking look at what's so obviously under your nose, for once!"

Rin's voice held a lot of blatant anger, which contrasted oddly with Haru's still calm and dismissive tone.

"Well, maybe people should just butt out of our business instead of thinking they have some kind of say in what goes on between me and Makoto. Even if there was something, what does it have to do with you."

"Ugh, why can't you just accept help when people offer-"

"There's nothing to help, Rin, so stop being a busybody and let us out!"

"God, will you just listen to yourself!"

The exchange was beginning to heat up, and Rin's voice was getting more and more irate with a gruff texture to it as they continued to argue. Makoto had a strong desire to step in between the two in an attempt to diffuse the situation, but at the same time he was kind of interested in what Haru had to say. There was no way he could get that kind of reaction out of Haru no matter how hard he tried, so he'd never know his true feelings on the matter. Maybe he should just continue letting this play out for a while.

"Listen to myself?" Haru was saying, a little agitation creeping its way into his voice now. "Good advice, Rin, why don't you take it for yourself?"

"Just because we're trying to be good friends and help you realise your feelings for each other, you think you can be such a spoilt brat, Haru. I'm so sick of your pious fucking attitude; thinking you're so much better than all of us because you never need any help or some shit. Well, news flash, you do need help: you just won't admit it!"

"If I needed help, you'd be the last person I'd ask for it."

"Oh, yeah, great. Thanks, Haru! You know what, fuck you! We're doing this for Makoto anyway." Oh no. Okay, now was the time to step in. Rin was shouting and he didn't like being brought into this argument at all!

"Rin," he tried to call, but got promptly ignored.

"You can't be so ignorant that you haven't realised the way he looks at you, Haru. Sometimes he looks at you like you're a fucking God walking on Earth, like you're the Light made flesh or some crap like that. You don't even realise."

The heat in his cheeks had reached astronomical levels now, so much so that he was starting to feel a little faint, his breaths coming a little too quick and short. He definitely did not look at Haru in that way! Not at all! 

Haru was still mostly composed, although a tiny hint of rose in his face too showed that Rin's words were getting to him. He flicked a glance over to Makoto and his heart skipped a beat as those blue eyes met his. A sour pressure in his stomach began to weigh him down like lead when they left just as quickly, dismissing him, or so it seemed.

"Rin," he tried again, only getting an irritated look from the lidded red eyes. Slowly, a look of guilt overcame the face of his friend, and he shook his head, maroon hair blocking his face from view. He pushed it out of the way with a hand, before crossing his arms tightly over his chest.

With a sigh, Rin shot a word of apology to Makoto, his gaze still fixed on the dark haired boy. 

Makoto tried to smile in acceptance, but found himself incapable of doing so. His breathing was still falling short of what a proper breath should feel like, and he was pressing down both hands onto his stomach in an attempt to stop himself sicking up there and then. He was so concerned with his own bodily problems that he almost missed Haru's next words.

"You think I don't notice all of that?"

Makoto's world seemed to crash down on him, and it took everything he had to not throw up. Haru had noticed? That meant that he had actually been looking at Haru like that! But, why hadn't anyone told him? He'd been sure that he'd managed to keep his... he supposed he'd have to accept it was attraction now... his attraction of the boy a secret. Obviously it had failed. 

Desperately wanting to groan in pain and burst into tears at the same time, Makoto swallowed a lump that had formed in his throat, unsettling his stomach even further. This was probably the worst day of his life.

Rin's eyes were wider than he'd ever seen before, mouth agape in an almost comical 'O' shape. There was only silence as he seemed at a loss for words for the first time that Makoto could remember.

It was weird, Haru being the talkative one. 

"It doesn't mean anything." Haru's voice floated through the room softly, calm and composed as usual. It took the edge off the horrible humming of the lights that were really beginning to put Makoto on edge. "Makoto's my best friend; of course he looks at me like that."

What.

An awkward silence fixed itself on the group after those words. For a full thirty seconds, Makoto counted, there was no noise but for the dripping and the humming, and a quiet buzzing which he supposed was a fly or something. 

And then Rin laughed again.

It wasn't a guffaw, or even wholly genuine. It was a wheezy hoot of a laugh, freeing the boy of all his breath. He doubled over, the horrible, raspy sounds escaping him in short bursts, hands on knees, and tears leaking from his closed eyes.

"Oh," he croaked. "Oh - my - God. You're so -" he stood, wiping at his eyes, " - oblivious, Haru. I didn't even know it was poss-" He began to cough, a chest rattling cough which made Makoto wince uncomfortably. The laughter still hadn't stopped though. 

Haru blinked uncertainly at the sight, unable to properly comprehend what was so funny to Rin. He got that small crinkle in the bridge of his nose that he only got when he was confused but didn't want to frown fully. Makoto wasn't sure whether or not his own face was mirroring the same sort of expression, because he was also perplexed by Rin's over-reaction. 

It was odd, though, that Rin seemed to understand Makoto better than Haru at the moment. Although it was horribly embarrassing and Makoto wanted to sink into the ground, if his emotions were so clearly painted onto his face that Rin, Rei, and Nagisa, could see his true feelings for Haru, then how couldn't Haru? He'd always been so observant, noticing such small details about other people when he wanted to. In fact, Haru was probably the most seeing of all the people Makoto knew. So how did he not know how he felt?

Admitting the feelings he'd been so hopelessly trying to bury for a few years felt so strange. It had all begun about four years ago, just as they were leaving Middle School, that he'd become acutely aware that how he viewed Haru was different to how he saw any of his other friends, be them girl or boy. Nobody could compare to Haru. At first Makoto had thought it was just because he and Haru had been best friends for so long, but when Zaki-chan had asked him to go on a date with him all he'd been able to do was think about how he'd rather do that with Haru. He'd had to decline, unable to upset Zaki-chan like that, but the memory of how clearly he'd been incapable of imagining himself with anybody but Haru hadn't left him for a long time after. 

And that's when he'd realised he was sort of in love with his best friend.

The thought made him feel so guilty, especially after hearing what Haru had just said. Obviously the other boy didn't reciprocate the feelings whatsoever, so even thinking that the two of them could ever... be together, even in his head, was so, so wrong. It was selfish of him to think that they could have ever been anything more than friends. And now this whole ordeal was his fault too.

Makoto lowered his head to the floor again, a tear running down his cheek followed by a tingling sensation. It took a lot from him not to reach up and wipe it away, knowing that the motion would draw attention to him and they'd know he was crying. More than anything now, he had to avoid letting Haru know how he really felt. If he hadn't realised so far that meant he could keep up the façade for as long as it was necessary.

When Haru spoke next, his voice held more heat than Rin's had, despite remaining low. “You're just overcomplicating everything again, Rin.”

“Again? Yeah, okay. Of course – I manage to complicate every – thing all the time, don't I? None – of that's on – you, is it, Haru? - God, you piss me off – so much.” Rin was still trying to catch his breath back, the occasional pant escaping and breaking his speech.

"Rin-chan!" Nagisa's voice travelled through the door sounding a little hesitant. Unusual for Nagisa. If the boy wasn't happy then it was cause for concern.

Makoto heard Rin grunt bitterly, and then move over to the bench. He saw the dark trainers in front of him and then a warm hand on his shoulder. Rin's voice was very quiet when he next spoke, "I really am sorry, Makoto. I didn't mean to embarrass you. Just tell him though, yeah?" Another pat on the shoulder, then a small thud that he couldn't identify followed by a soft noise from Haru, and then finally the sound of the door opening and closing as Rin left. Nagisa's accusatory tone drifted into the room, questioning about what had 'gone on in there' and 'why could I hear shouting, you were just meant to give them food!'. 

Makoto risked a small glimpse up at Haru and found him frowning at the door again. It clicked, signalling it was locked and the voices disappeared, but Makoto didn't really notice or care. Haru was still a little angry, it seemed, so Makoto didn't really know what to do or say. He still wasn't used to angry Haru. Sure, indifference and aloofness were all a part of everyday, and every now and then he could be very happy. Usually he was just content and pretty relaxed. 

Deciding it was best that he didn't say anything, Makoto picked up one of the water bottles and took a small swig. It was kind of warm so it didn't taste that great, but it was better than nothing, and he hadn't drunk anything in five hours now. It didn't do much to settle his stomach, but he supposed that was just something he'd have to deal with. He definitely didn't feel like eating any of the rice though; he'd throw up for sure if he did.

He was going to have to pay more attention to how he looked at people and how he expressed his feelings on his face, was the conclusion Makoto came to after a while. He would have to look at Haru the same way as he looked at everyone, rather than as if he was... the Light made flesh? Was that what Rin had said. _Oh, God._ His face was heating up again, and a small sound left him no matter how much he tried to hold it in. Thankfully, it didn't seem as though Haru was paying any attention to him anyway. 

How had everything come down to this? Damn Nagisa and Rei. And Rin! Doing this for him? This was the worst situation he'd ever found himself in! Some friends they were.

Okay, that was unfair. Clearly they were trying to help. They had a bad way of showing it, but all of this was done in love, he was sure of it. If only they had done it differently. He felt ashamed for thinking so badly of his friends, which made his stomach ache even worse. Those lights really weren't helping, the buzzing giving him a headache.

Haru came to sit next to him after a while. Makoto was mostly lost in his own thoughts, but he did hear the small sound of appreciation as the other opened up a Tupperware box. The pungent smell of mackerel wandered over to him and he almost retched. Makoto really couldn't enjoy the stuff anywhere near as Haru: it smelt too bad. 

As Haru tucked in and Makoto tried his very best not to hear the squelching and chewing noises, the lights flickered three times before turning off and thrusting the two in complete darkness.

Makoto's heart seemed to want to jump out of his chest. The sound of his blood pumping was strong in his ears. Yeah. This was definitely the worst day of his life.


	6. Sixth Hour

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so, so sorry that this took so long to update: I've been busy moving into a new flat and starting a new year at Uni which is very busy already! I started writing this chapter a long time ago, but I just couldn't seem to get it right and had to keep rewriting it, but hopefully you'll all enjoy it as it is now! Thank you so much for all the response to the last chapter and for being so patient in waiting for this one! Happy reading!

Haruka tucked into the rice and mackerel angrily. _Damn Rin! Why does he always have to overcomplicate everything?_ If Haruka thought about it, he couldn't think of a single event in his life that wasn't complicated by Rin and his damned schemes. All in the name of friendship supposedly.

He shook his head and glanced at the hunched figure next to him. Makoto hadn't said a word since Rin had left, only having emitted a small groan a few minutes ago that Haruka hadn't been able to reason out. It seemed like he was embarrassed but Haruka couldn't understand why. Sure, the way Rin had described the way that Makoto looked at him sometimes was a little over the top - Haruka couldn't recall thinking of it in a remotely similar way - but that was just Rin. Upsetting every situation as per usual. The idea of talking to Makoto bubbled to the front of his mind once or twice, but he discarded it in favour of eating as quietly as he could. Makoto really disliked the sound of people eating.

For now, Haruka could just be pleased that Nagisa had managed to cook the mackerel well enough that it was edible. There was no doubt that Rin and Rei both would have been incapable of cooking mackerel to Haruka's likening – only Nagisa, surprisingly, carried that talent.

Just as his chopsticks were making their way to his mouth with a hefty amount of rice puckered in-between them, the lights flickered three times and then switched off. Haruka blinked trying to adjust his eyes to the new found darkness. He couldn't even make out the massive figure of Makoto next to him - it was completely pitch black - but he could feel the bench moving as the other seemed to straighten from his bent position abruptly. Little blobs of colour floated behind Haruka's eyelids for a few seconds before disappearing, and he turned his head again, outlines of the room slowly coming into view as he did so.

Makoto beside him was as still as a statue, seemingly paralysed by the sudden change in environment. Haruka's heart leapt as the situation caught up to him. Makoto was terrified of the dark, and there was no way for them to escape this time. He silently cursed at the others, positive this was a scheme of theirs to try and get the two of them closer to each other; he was loath to assume anything that happened in the small room could be coincidence.

Less than a minute could have passed since the lights went out when Haruka jumped up and made for the door. A small whine left his friend as he did so, and he paused for a second looking back at the shadow.

"Makoto?" he asked, hoping that he was articulating clearly.

Haruka couldn't see the other well enough to make out facial expressions, but he did see Makoto's head look up at him and then shake from side to side. 

His voice was very quiet when he spoke. "I'm fine."

Haruka didn't believe that even for a second. Over the years, he'd come to know Makoto almost as well as he knew himself, if not better in some ways. And if there was one thing that he could be sure about the other it was that he was completely terrified of the dark. Haruka wouldn't be surprised if Makoto burst into tears shortly, as was often the way of things when he was scared.

He continued his journey to the door quickly, trying not to leave Makoto for as long as he possibly could. There was no noise to be heard from the other side and very little light either. A fist knocked a few times though, just in case the others hadn't gone, but that wasn't his plan either way. He let out a small grunt of annoyance; his friends were really causing him and Makoto a lot of trouble today, and he was starting to get very annoyed.

Haruka reached out a hand and pressed it against the cool, smooth surface of the wall, tracing it along as he bent down. It moved across the wall and hit the rough fabric of a rucksack handle - that belonged to Makoto - and then next to it was his own satchel bag. He felt along until he came across the hard plastic of a buckle and quickly opened up his bag. Inside it was kind of messy as he'd packed everything away in a rush in order to be in the swimming pool earlier. The artificial touch of his swimsuit mocked him as he rummaged past it, searching for the cool aluminium of his phone. Usually he'd leave it at home, but his mother had said she'd call so he'd carried it with him all day.

He flipped the top open and a blinding light flooded from the screen. His eyes scrunched together tightly as a reflex, having already successfully adapted to the darkness. 

Hoping that the small light of his phone would be enough to calm Makoto until the others put the lights back on, he made his way back over to the bench. As he approached it, Makoto spoke up again, still quiet.

"Why didn't they take your phone? They took mine."

Haruka shrugged as he sat down, placing the phone in between them. It's illumination distance was short and it didn't really light up anything, but he could make out Makoto's features a little better than he could before. Right now, Makoto was blinking furiously in an attempt to get his eyes used to the new light. He still looked a little on edge and unwell, like he had since Rin's unwanted visit, but his shoulders had relaxed slightly since Haruka had sat down again. It would have to do for now. "I don't know," he answered verbally just in case Makoto hadn't seen his response. "I guess they didn't know I would have it."

Makoto hummed in agreement and shuffled closer to the phone. Haruka watched as his friend stared down at the phone, an uncharacteristically sad look on his face. He supposed it was because of what Rin had said. 

Haruka turned his head to the side, fixing his gaze solidly on a pitch black part of the room. In his vision, it seemed like there were tiny shadows of various shades of dark purples and greens slithering around, swimming across the room and bulging in size every now and then. He ignored it, knowing it was only a trick of the darkness.

All he could think of was how angry he was with Rin. A sharp pain in his palm alerted him that his fist was clenched and his nails were digging into his skin. It took effort to un-clench, and a small whistle of pain escaped him as he did so. Even if what Rin had said about how Makoto looked at him was true, it didn't mean that it was fair for him to point it out as obviously as he had. It was infeasible to think that Makoto had a crush on him. It was such a ridiculous hypothesis to make with such shoddy evidence. Makoto looked at everyone in the same caring and gentle way, and if it was exaggerated for Haruka a little then that was only because they were best friends, just as he had said! Why did Rin think it was right for him to embarrass Makoto like that by making him feel like he was expressing emotions that he definitely wasn't?

As it was, there was absolutely no way that Makoto could have those kind of feelings for him. The two of them had been best friends for as long as he could remember - ever since kindergarten. Those sort of romances between childhood friends only happened in stories and movies: not real life. And it wasn't as though Makoto really treated him any differently to anybody else.

But then why had their friends come to this conclusion then?

Of course, that was about the both of them, not just Makoto. Which meant that they thought he had feelings for Makoto. He made a sound in the back of his throat. Haruka couldn't stand it when people made assumptions about others and stuck their noses into business that didn't concern him. Honestly, he hated it enough when Makoto did it to him, or when Nagisa and the others started on him about what he was going to do after school. Why did they think it had anything to do with them? The damned busybodies!

It wasn't like Haruka even felt anything of the sort for anyone, let alone Makoto. Those sort of feelings were unnecessary complications in an already complicated world. It was just like Rin to let his stupid romantic tendencies infect everybody around him, like Nagisa and Rei - Rei who was usually so logical and sensible. He could believe it of Nagisa who let his imagination run away with him daily, but not Rei. All he could do was blame Rin, trying to enforce romantic feelings on both him and Makoto. Haruka wasn't sure whether he was more angry for the attempt on him or the larger boy. Makoto was much easier to upset and would likely not stand up for himself if it meant upsetting his friends or anybody else.

Stupid, gentle and loving Makoto. Why did he have to be susceptible to his emotions? Looking over to him again, Haruka could see that he was still staring miserably down at the small light, fiddling uncomfortably with the top of his water bottle. Had what Rin said really affected him so much? Green eyes that so commonly held warmth and affection were drowning in a reserved sense of sadness; one that Haruka could only recall seeing in his friend once before, back when they were younger and Yazaki-san had asked Makoto on a cinema date. Haruka had told him to go despite the sick feeling that had churned in his stomach as he had, but Makoto had said no because apparently he didn't like her in the same way. Haruka wasn't well versed in the codes of friendship, but he didn't think that the relief that flooded him at those words was entirely normal. Not that he'd been jealous, of course, just concerned for his friend; what if Yazaki-san had ended up hurting Makoto? He would have never been able to forgive himself for letting that happen.

Maybe he was more disturbed by the dark and quiet room they were in. It had an almost unbelievable sense of stillness to it the longer they were there. Even the dripping which he had thought would drive him insane had halted some time ago. Other than the mysterious humming from somewhere behind them it was silent. 

Suddenly, Makoto's mild voice broke the hush and Haruka jumped at the sound, completely lost in his own thoughts. "Why is this your wallpaper?"

Haruka frowned as Makoto looked up to make eye contact for the first time since Rin had left. Immediately, Haruka was hit by the force of determination that stared out of those green pools. It wasn't that Makoto had a poor sense of motivation, but Haruka was still taken aback by the level of sincerity in that moment. He wondered if it was because of the interaction with their old friend that had just passed, but he was confused over what Makoto could be determined about. Nothing that either he or Rin had said seemed to make sense in that regard.

He shrugged it off, trying to concentrate on the question his friend had posed. His wallpaper? Looking down, having no idea what Makoto could be referring to, he found that his wallpaper was a picture of the dolphin toy that he'd got from Iwatobi Swim Club all those years ago. Haruka couldn't remember setting that as his wallpaper but he didn't understand why Makoto would question it or have any such reaction to it. It was only a picture of a toy. Perhaps that was a little immature of him, but he was fond of it. Dolphins were majestic animals, and the toy had a few sentimental memories attached to it as well he supposed. 

A small grunt left him and he lifted his head again to face his friend. Once again, he was struck by his friends eyes, watching him so carefully, judging every movement. If Haruka was the sort to be unbalanced by that sort of thing he surely would have been uncomfortable. He shuffled in his seat, trying to rearrange himself: the damn bench was making his butt go numb the longer he sat on it. 

"I don't know," he finally answered. "I just like it."

Makoto 'Ohh'ed and turned his head away. That hadn't exactly been the reaction that Haruka had been expecting. Not that he'd really been expecting anything in particular, but still. He blinked a few times, listening to the quiet hum that seemed to be echoing through the room. Why was every conversation between the two so awkward today? It was getting to the point where Haruka was considering initiating a totally different topic just to alleviate some of the tension in the room – which was close to becoming unbearable. He couldn't remember the last time it had been so tense between the two best friends, inseparable for over ten years. He wanted nothing more than to blame Rin solely for it but he knew that it had been awkward before he'd even arrived. Perhaps he was partly to blame, knowing that Makoto was worrying about what he wanted to do after school, but Haruka couldn't bring himself to feel guilty for that - it was none of Makoto's business. He should stop meddling.

He shifted again, his trousers making a soft scratching sound against the metal surface of the bench, and accidentally brushed against the phone which went clanging onto the ground. As he bent to pick it up, it started to ring. Pushing the small shock he got aside, he looked to the caller I.D. which read Nagisa. Haruka's teeth started to grind before he knew it, anger rising steadily as the little picture of his younger friend flashed in his hand. 

The moment he clicked answer, a high pitched wail flooded through the speaker, "Haruuu-chaaan!"

Flinching at the sound of the nickname he hated so much, he turned on speaker phone holding the phone between him and Makoto so they could both hear and talk. Makoto's face had turned slightly towards him when he dropped the phone, a small crease between his brows. 

"Nagisa, turn the lights on." Haruka was still adamant it was all a ploy to get him and Makoto closer - one that had failed miserably.

A small hum left his friend at that, and his green eyes turned to Haruka questioningly. Apparently Makoto hadn't come to the same conclusion as him.

"But, Haru-chan," Nagisa whined fruitlessly, "I didn't turn them off! I think that the lightbulb ran out!"

The less irksome voice of Rei replaced the blond boy, "I assure you we did not plan this, Haruka-senpai, Makoto-senpai. We wouldn't want to... upset either of you."

Upset either of them? Well, from Haruka's perspective anyway, they were both upset by the intrusion of their so called friends. All they'd managed to do was make things between them worse than they had been before.

Haruka sighed sadly, and looked to Makoto hoping that he would ask the two on the phone something so that he didn't have to keep up the conversation. Unfortunately, it didn't seem like the taller boy felt like talking; a large frown had taken over his face, and his lips were pursed together tightly.

The free swimmer decided to keep silent and let the others get to why they had called in the first place. 

"Haru-chan," it was Nagisa's voice again. "You should have told us you had your phone, we were meant to confiscate it!" 

"You didn't ask for it," Haruka replied, already bored with the talking. Surely this couldn't be what they'd phoned for. Why would they have called if they didn't know he had his phone?

An indignant sound rasped through the speaker, and Rei spoke again. "Yes, that was a mistake on our part, Haruka-senpai, but... sorry for asking, but why didn't you try to phone for help to get out if you had it all this time?”

Truthfully, Haruka had forgotten he'd had the thing until the lights had gone out, but he wasn't likely to admit that: his cheeks had already gone warm at the question. Instead, he kept silent again and looked blankly at the portrait of Nagisa shining on his phone. He couldn't remember taking the photo, and only one of Nagisa's arms was in frame so presumably Nagisa had done it himself. The over active boy was winking with his tongue poking out, his unoccupied hand making a peace sign. Such a silly pose. Haruka half wished that Nagisa would consider growing up some time soon, but at the same time he was sure it was Nagisa's childish attitude that made him Nagisa, and, without it, he wouldn't be the same.

After a pause, Haruka decided to ask a question of his own. "Are you going to let us out now that the light's gone? We can't stay in here in the pitch-black."

"No can do, Haru-chan! You've still got a little more than six hours to go! Of course, if you two confess your love sooner we'll let you out."

"Nagisa it's dark. Let us out."

"We're gonna send over a new lightbulb, Haru-chan, don't you worry!" 

Nagisa's voice was way too cheerful in Haruka's opinion. Why couldn't the boy listen? Maybe he could just try and dupe the second years...

He took a deep breath, glancing towards the brunet quickly. Makoto was still frowning worriedly, looking around the room for some reason. "What if we've already confessed?"

Almost as if on a cue, Makoto choked, spluttering on his own spit as he turned to stare at Haruka with eyes as wide as Nagisa's when he tried to feign innocence. Haruka shied his own away, almost embarrassed to share a look with his best friend after what he'd just said. 

“Haru...?” was all Makoto said, but even that one word, said so perplexed, spread a fire into Haruka's cheeks that he hadn't thought was possible. Either Makoto's tone was getting to him or the temperature in the room had increased by at least twenty degrees because Haruka could feel the beginnings of perspiration at the nape of his neck. He desperately wanted to wipe it away, but knew the action would draw even more attention to himself.

He looked to his friend again out of the corner of his eye, and almost sighed. Why did Makoto have to have such big eyes? They made him look like a puppy dog or something - and a hurt one at that. 

Damn Makoto. Perhaps this hadn't been the best idea.

He focused his mind back onto the phone call, desperately trying to ignore those eyes that seemed to boring holes into his skull. It was harder than it should have been, in Haruka's opinion. 

Silence greeted him on the other end of the phone for at least a minute, and it was all Haruka could do to keep his wits about him as he waited for a response. A quiet snigger was not what he'd been hoping for, and nor did it alleviate his mood.

"I'm sorry, Haru-chan," the irritating voice of his former young friend spoke out, "but that's a lie. I'm kind of impressed you'd go so far though. You must really want out, huh?"

"Nagisa-kun, it's not fair to make fun," the smooth voice of Rei admonished quietly, although Haruka was not totally sure he wanted to hear it right now. 

He narrowed his eyes and looked again to his tall friend. Makoto was now staring down at his hands which were clenched in his lap. Haruka wasn't sure whether that was a sign of anger or something else, but he didn't want to ask when the two idiots who'd locked them in a room for six hours could listen in.

He grunted non-committally. "How do you know that we haven't? Are you psychic now or something?" He wouldn't put it past Nagisa to believe something so trite. 

Again that laugh echoed out. Feelings of anger to flooded throughout Haruka once again. Honestly, the fluctuations in his emotions today were nothing to be sneered at; he could barely remember the last time he'd had such trouble keeping them in check. Either it was being locked in such cramped conditions or.. no, that was the only reason he could think of. When he got out he was going to knock their heads together. Rin's too. 

"Not quite Haru-chan," Nagisa said, his voice smug, "just know that we know."

 _Just know that you're going to regret all of this, Nagisa_ -chan. Damn, but he was getting irritated with that damn nickname as well now.

"Are you listening to us, Nagisa?" 

Haruka's head whipped around to stare confused at Makoto. Listening? Well, they were on the phone, but surely he couldn't have meant that, could he? Did he mean the room was bugged? 

Through the annoying buzzing, Nagisa's voice rang out again. "Hmm, a magician never tells his secrets, Mako-chan!" He made the 'chan' on Makoto's name very high in a mocking way. It was the first time Haruka could recall Nagisa being so blatantly antagonising in his nicknaming habit. 

However, Makoto just smiled gently. "I'll take that as a yes then." As he said this, he stood up gingerly, holding his stomach. His eyes met Haruka's and he nodded his head behind them. Brows furrowed, Haruka stood and looked in that direction. He smirked, but the smile didn't reach his eyes. _Busted._

Where the lockers stood, a small red light shone from the second highest shelf through the slits in the door. Making sure to stay close to each other, the two made their way over to it. If it weren't for the power outage, it was unlikely that either of them would have noticed such a small light, but the buzzing - that buzzing which had been bugging Haruka for the past couple of hours - got a little louder. 

He held up the receiver end of his phone to the locker, knowing that the two on the other side would be able to hear the sound just as clearly as they could. This revelation was met with silence so Haruka ended the call. He tried to share another look with Makoto, but the other boy didn't seem so keen to make eye contact with him. He half wondered whether that was because of what he'd said - the ploy to trick Nagisa and Rei. But surely Makoto hadn't believed that, so there was no reason for that to be the case.

He looked at the little light that blinked back so innocently. After a while of trying to stare it down, he had to close his eyes because they began to water. Funny shapes floated behind his eyelids when he closed them again. 

"I think the light means it's recording."

It was the first time Makoto had spoken to him directly in a while, making Haruka jump and his heart pound. He held a surprised hand to his chest as he turned to watch his friend who was bent slightly trying to see through the slits to get a better look at the light.

"Recording sound?" Haruka asked. That much was obvious if what Nagisa had said on the phone was to be believed.

Makoto made a sound of disagreement, though. "No. Well, yes it's recording sound obviously, else they couldn't have known that you didn't confess..." He trailed off awkwardly. Even in the dim light Haruka could see a faint blush emerge, and green eyes flicked downwards again. Makoto coughed and continued. Was his voice a little quieter than before or was Haruka imagining it? "But, they knew the lights were out as well. I think it's recording visually too."

Oh. Well, Haruka hadn't been expecting that. He supposed it made sense, but wasn't that a little extreme?

Then again, it was Nagisa.

Haruka opened his mouth to ask what they were going to do about it – for some reason the thought of going back to silence made him uneasy. Just as he was about to speak though, Makoto shrugged, looking at him from the side of his eye. "I don't know. They're not going to let us out for another six hours unless we 'admit our love for each other'." He said it with mock air quotes, but again he blushed. Could it really be just because of what Rin said? Or was this something more?

He heard his stomach churn at the thought, but not in the way he was expecting it to. He didn't feel sick or annoyed, but nervous. Why would he be nervous at the thought of Makoto having feelings for him? Because he didn't reciprocate and it could ruin their friendship? That was the logical assumption, but it didn't fit the way he was feeling.

Sometimes Haruka wished he could just do away with his emotions. They caused a lot more trouble than they solved... or so it seemed to him.

He pressed his mind to concentrate on the conversation instead. Despite all that had happened, he still hadn't really believed that they would be stuck in the dingy little room for twelve hours, but now having passed the half way mark he was beginning to doubt his initial reaction.

Twelve hours. Six down, six more to go. 

Six more hours with Makoto and the weird feelings he kept inducing in Haruka. Just perfect...


	7. Intermission

Nagisa stared at the monitor in disbelief, mouth agape. This wasn't possible. How had they found the camera? And so quickly! He was sure he'd hidden it quite well.

Hearing a snort behind him he turned to look at the source. Rin-chan was sat with his arms over his chest, a smirk adorning his face. It was hard, but somehow Nagisa managed to resist the urge to hit him. After all, this was his fault! If he hadn't messed things up by making Haru-chan mad then none of this would have happened. And now here he was snorting at the explosion of events.

All of his meticulous planning for nothing!

_Now, now, Nagisa,_ he thought, _don't get too worked up. It's not all ruined. You'll manage to salvage this! Just think!_

He shook his head. Of course he could fix things! That was what he did: fixed things. Apart from that one time when he broke his sister's snow globe even after she'd told him not to touch it.

Or that time when he accidentally knocked his grandmother's clock off the table and it stopped working. Man, he could still feel the wrath from that one.

And that time he sat on Rei-chan's glasses in the changing room by accident. Rei-chan hadn't spoken to him for a week after that one.

But all of that was beside the point. When it came to his friends he could fix their broken relationships. _Damn straight, Nagisa. You can do this._

Interrupting his Nagisa party, Rei-chan decided to confront Rin-chan's snort from earlier. 

“Now, Rin-senpai, I don't think you helped this situation much before.” Nagisa cheered inwardly. He could always count on Rei-chan for his support! He was always on Nagisa's side.

Or so he thought before Rei-chan's next words.

“But, Nagisa-kun, I _do_ think it's perhaps time we should let them out now. It's been six hours, and it doesn't look as though either of them is going to confess anything any time soon.” He paused, hand on his chin in a thoughtful pose. “Perhaps we were wrong about what we were seeing in the first place.”

Nagisa opened his mouth to argue; no way were they wrong about this! And Haru-chan's blindness was hurting Mako-chan! (Why would nobody think of Mako-chan!) But they also had to help save Haru-chan from his own stupidity. Rei-chan had agreed before. Why was he so ready to give up at the first hurdle?

Before he could make a sound, Rin-chan's voice entered the room for the first time since he'd come back from the changing room. 

“I told you this wouldn't work! Haru's too stupid to see what's in front of him, and Makoto's Makoto. He wouldn't make the first move if his life depended on it!”

“Nobody asked you to be here, _RinRin_. If you don't like it then you can leave. Not like you're helping anything anyway, are you?”

Was that too aggressive? Maybe. But it _was_ true. Plus, just because he was cute and small didn't mean that he couldn't stand up for himself. Yeah!

Rei-chan pushed up his glasses as he always did when he felt he had to say something smart. Usually it would make Nagisa smile, but it seemed the recent events had upset him more than they perhaps should have. Whoa. A day where Rei-chan couldn't make him smile? Maybe he was just coming down with something.

Rin-chan was smirking at him in that annoying, cocky way he always did. 

“I'm helping things more than either of you. All you've done, Nagisa, is turn the lights off and scare the shit out of Makoto!” He sighed, looking a little genuinely angry. “What, for the life of you, could make you think of something so stupid. Honestly, you guys can be fucking idiots.”

He said the last part in English, but Nagisa recognised the swear words so got the general gist that it wasn't a compliment. Normally, he'd glare or retort, but now he was starting to feel guilty about turning the lights off again. If things had gone according to plan then Haru-chan would have hugged Mako-chan and then they'd have realised their feelings for each other at the close proximity. But Haru-chan hadn't even looked at Mako-chan, not really. It was surprising: yes, Haru-chan was aloof, but he was never that distant with Mako-chan. Obviously there was only one explanation for it.

This time he did actually glare at Rin; pink eyes sparkling with anger. “Well it's your fault that it didn't work properly. After what you did in there – which you _still_ haven't explained, by the way! - Mako-chan looked like he was going to burst into tears at the slightest movement. Before you butted in they were telling stories, playing games. After you left they were just sat in silence! How have you helped in the slightest?”

Was that really his voice getting so high?

Rei-chan coughed quietly. “Um, Nagisa-kun...”

But Rin wouldn't let him finish. Although blushing a bit, he still managed to defend himself. “Yeah, well, you're the one who sent me in there. Why didn't you just leave food in there before you locked them in? Or, even better,” he spat, “not lock them in at all. Rei's right: we should let them out now. Give me the key.”

He held out his hand expectantly, and Nagisa's grip tightened on the key in his pocket. No way was he going to let them out now. He'd said _twelve_ hours, not six and a bit.

“What did you even say?” he asked. “That's what I want to know. I thought you wouldn't just fought with Haru-chan, as per usual, but Mako-chan looked more upset. What, now you don't like Mako-chan either? When are you planning on getting over your little angst fest anyway, Rin?!”

Red eyes narrowed into a deadly glare and, not for the first time, Nagisa started to think that he should stop running his mouth off so much.

_Yeah, you're definitely the fixer of relationships alright..._ Nagisa wondered if telling your own brain to shut up was a sign of madness.

Again, Rei-chan spoke. “You two, please...”

Nagisa glanced at the boy who was standing with one arm across his chest and the other holding his forehead. Nagisa wasn't so used to seeing Rei-chan with only his school shirt on – usually he kept the jacket on all the time, as the rules dictated you were meant to – but the pose made his shoulders and chest look so broad. Broader than usual anyway. 

Huh.

“Oh my God, I've got it!” he shouted before Rin-chan could reply to his outburst. “We should turn the heating up!”

Blank stares hit him from both of his co-conspirators, and he momentarily felt like shrinking down into the ground.

“What the fuck are you on about?” Rin-chan demanded with an almost disgusted curling of his lip. Rei-chan seemed to second the question with a subtle nod of his head.

Nagisa sighed. Why did he always have to be the smart one?

“Well,” he said, a smile appearing on his face for the first time in over two hours. “If we turn the heating up then eventually the two of them will be forced to strip, then they won't be able to resist their feelings for each other! It's genius, right?”

Rin-chan shut his eyes and turned away, muttering under his breath. Confused, Nagisa blinked at Rei-chan: what was that reaction about?

“Nagisa-kun,” Rei-chan started slowly before trailing off and fixing him with a look that Nagisa almost thought looked as though Rei-chan was asking if he was being serious or something. Strange.

Now even Rei-chan looked a little annoyed, running a hand through his hair while sighing miserably. Immediately the hand began to flatten down any hair that may have been messed about by the action, though. Before he could help it, a giggle escaped him. Damn, but Rei-chan was cute.

Rei-chan took a deep breath and began again. “Nagisa-kun,” his voice was harder this time. “We spend most of our time together in swim suits with our chests bare. I don't think them stripping would solve anything. And anyway,” he added after a tiny pause, “we don't have any remote temperature controls for the changing room.”

Oh. He hadn't thought about that. Well, either of those points – boy, did Rei-chan always have to point out the sensible reasons. Nagisa slumped. That was the end of his ideas then.

Rin-chan snorted again. “See? This is what I was talking about, Nagisa. You don't think things through, you just _do_. How did you even come up with that anyway?”

Unintentionally, Nagisa's face began to heat up. To be honest he didn't know how he'd thought of that. He'd just been looking at Rei-chan and the thought struck him. Strange.

“Never mind that,” he said moodily, throwing himself back into his chair with a thump. “I dunno what to do now. What do we do now?”

Rin-chan moved over to put a hand on Nahisa's shoulder comfortingly. “That's easy. We turn the lights back on, Nagisa.”

He sighed sadly. But he couldn't deny that that was probably the only to really do in this situation. Plus, poor Mako-chan had been so scared before. He nodded, blond hair falling into his eyes. His finger hovered over the light switch for a little while, but Rin-chan's small pat convinced him to press it. Immediately light shone from the monitor again and the changing room was clearly visible once more. It showed everything as it had been: the wooden benches and hooks, the showers that always dripped, the colourless, scratchy walls. Everything as it should be.

Other than the face that both Haru-chan and Mako-chan were nowhere to be seen.

The blond's mind went blank. There was no way they could have gotten out! There were only two exits and they were both locked! And he didn't think either of them even knew about the back entrance – it had taken a lot of cookies to get the information and whereabouts from the janitor!

He heard Rin-chan say 'What the fuck?' behind him and his mind seemed to jump back into action. He jumped up to get a closer look at the monitor. There was really no sign of them! He needed to move the camera! He shot the question of how to the tallest, but just got a shrug of the shoulders in return.

“It's a normal handheld camera, Nagisa-kun,” Rei-chan said calmly. Too calmly, if you asked Nagisa. “It's not on a rotating tripod, just sat on the top shelf of the locker. We can't move it without physically going in there.”

A hum left the boy as Nagisa tried rotating his head around the screen in order to get a better angle. It wasn't making a damn slight of difference though. “This really is unprecedented, however. Although I can't think of a logical explanation as to how they escaped, perhaps we should investigate nonetheless. Nagisa-kun. What do you want to do?”

For such a short period of time, somehow the third snort of derision came from the redhead. “God, Rei, you really need to start talking like a real person at some point. But, anyways, I agree. What're we gonna do now, oh Master of Planning?”

Ignoring the snub in favour of staring at the screen in dismay, Nagisa just again shook his head. He really had no idea. Damn, why couldn't everything just go to plan?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so, so, so, so, so sorry for my absence. I was 'umm'ing and 'errr'ing over this chapter for so long. I think I've written it at least six times and scrapped most of it and then thought about skipping it, but then deciding not to. I dunno. A lot of indecision over this one, and I've also been busy with coursework and exams and Christmas and birthdays and stuff. But it's no excuse. I really want to update this more regularly though because I love writing it so much! Anyways, I hope you enjoy it! And I hope, hope, HOPE, that the next chapter will be up in no more than two weeks. Maybe shout at me if I'm this late again? Thanks so much for all who continue to read this story - you're the best!


	8. Seventh Hour

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, it took longer than two weeks, but not as long as before! Still, I'm sorry... but I hope you enjoy!

A few minutes had passed since Haru had hung up on the younger boy, and both him and Makoto had once more settled into a rather uncomfortable silence - partly brought on by their day and now the added knowledge that the others were listening in on them.

That continued until Haru tenderly tapped him on the shoulder.

"We should hide."

Confused, Makoto blinked. Hide from what? Hide where? The room was barely big enough for him to walk ten steps in. Likely the camera could see him wherever he would attempt to hide anyway. And not just because he was so big. The room was tiny! He expressed his questions to his more serious friend, who just twitched his eyebrows slightly.

"Hide from the camera," he explained in a soft whisper. "If they can't see us or hear us then they might think we've escaped. When they come to check we can try to run past them and get out of here."

He said it so simply, yet Makoto still thought the plan was flawed. Before he could reiterate his pressing question, however, Haru had gripped his jacket sleeve and pulled him down to the floor so that they were huddling with their backs to the locker that the camera was hidden in. It was painfully obvious but he supposed it was the only place that the camera couldn't make out clearly.

They both shuffled around until they were reasonably comfortable, Makoto deciding to remove his jacket to pad his seat on the cold, hard floor of the changing room. Haru watched him silently, eyes unreadable. Makoto began to wonder if he should say something, but felt a twinge of annoyance at the thought. It wasn't liked he'd even done anything wrong so why should he have to be the one to break the tension, yet again, between the two? He'd tried his best all evening to try and make things better - I-spy, telling a story, playing basketball - but all of it had been for nothing! A part of him wanted to blame Rin, it really did, but he couldn't even make himself do that. It wasn't anybody's fault. He shouldn't have those feelings for Haru, sure, but it wasn't like he could just make them disappear because it wasn't normal to have them. He'd give anything to just think of Haru as a friend again. But would that be possible now after how long he'd kept it secret? After years of imagining very unrealistic scenarios in which Haru liked him back, and they ended up together and lived happy ever after? Makoto didn't think he could just let go of it all that easily.

And now with Rin letting it all out in the open like that... Well, now Haru knew. Of course he'd said that it was a friendship thing, but could he really believe that? Surely he realised that it wasn't that simple. And he had to feel something over it. Disgust maybe? Or just upset?

A betrayal of trust?

Oh, Makoto just wanted to go home! Everything that was happening was just making him feel so much worse. His stomach still felt as though it was trying to escape through his mouth. A hug from his mother and a nice cup of cocoa was all that he wanted at the moment. And to be away from Haru's eyes. Not that they were looking at him, they were searching his own hands intently (at least, Makoto thought so - it was still quite dark) but the occasional glimpse he received was more than enough for Makoto to long to hide his face from his friend for maybe the rest of his life.

"I think I might swim professionally."

Despite himself, Makoto's head snapped to look at Haru in shock. Haru had decided to swim professionally? When had he come to that conclusion? And why?

The smaller boy continued, still watching his hands closely. "It's just... I don't know what else to do. And I do love to swim, Makoto, I really do. I think I'd be good at it." There was a tiny hint of questioning in the last part, which made Makoto unconsciously go to pat Haru's shoulder. He regretted it almost immediately, but tried to play it off as nothing more than a friendly gesture. Which it was, really, but maybe Haru thought it was more than that. The other did twitch a little at the contact, and his head turned to face his own.

It was hard to see, so maybe Makoto was imagining it, but it almost seemed like Haru's eyes were trying to find some sort of reassurance from him. A strange fluttering feeling thumped in his chest as his grip tightened. "I think that's a great idea, Haru. You can really do anything you put your mind to." He paused, trying to make sure his words came out right. "I'm really happy that you have some idea of what you want to do now!

Haru smiled and turned away. "Thanks, Makoto."

A tightness in his voice had disappeared, something that had been present for the past couple of months whenever the two of them talked. Makoto removed the hand he still had placed on his friend's shoulder with a small smile of his own. Truth be told, he wasn't exactly sure how he felt about the whole situation. He was of course happy that Haru knew what he wanted to do, and that he felt comfortable enough to share it with him. But a small part of Makoto, a part of himself that he hated very much, was nagging over the how Haru had come to this conclusion. And that small, twisted, bitter part of Makoto's conscious was very sure that it was because of Rin.

Makoto shut his eyes and rested his head on the metallic surface behind him. He couldn't be jealous of Rin! He just couldn't! If Haru had feelings for Rin - the very thought of it made the pressure in his stomach want to erupt ten times worse than it already did - then Makoto just had to accept it. There wasn't a way to force Haru to reciprocate his feelings, and even if there was, Makoto wouldn't want to do that. The only thing that he could do was move on and accept that him and Haru weren't going to end up together. They could still be friends, and he would be happy for Haru and Rin if they started dating. He definitely could do that! After all, if Rin made Haru happy then that was all that mattered. 

Haru's happiness above all.

A small click sounded throughout the room and for a second Makoto was sure it was the others come with the lightbulb they'd promised Haru over the phone. But before the thought could even properly form a bright light illuminated the area again and Makoto squeezed his eyes shut at the sudden change, a stinging feeling already attacking his eyes.

He could hear Haru muttering 'I knew it' next to him which made him frown for a second before he cottoned on. Nagisa had completely lied about not being involved in the lights going off in the first place. A rush of anger and hurt flowed through him at the realisation. The others knew about his fear of the dark and they'd still turned the lights off and left them in darkness for an hour or so! How could they do that to him? After shoving him in this stupid room for so long and totally embarrassing him in front of Haru as well. Makoto was beginning to doubt whether he could really consider these people his friends.

The anger depleted quite quickly, but the hurt remained as he opened his eyes slowly in an attempt to try and readjust them back to the light. After the pitch black darkness they'd been forced into, the fluorescent rays beaming down on them were really quite unsettling. They also made the room appear much more dank and depressing than he remembered, the yellow tint making everything appear washed out and almost sickly. Nonetheless, he was more than glad to escape the strange twisting figures that lingered in the darkness before. 

A sigh of relief left him as a grunt of annoyance left the boy next to him. Makoto chanced a glance at the other to find him with a very deep furrow in his forehead and a scowl on his lips. If Makoto didn't know any better, he'd almost wager that Haru had been more upset by the darkness than he himself had. His reaction was strange, as Makoto did in fact know that Haru did not fear the dark whatsoever. Perhaps he was just angry with the fact that Nagisa had lied to him. That seemed more likely, and honestly Makoto agreed. Where Nagisa thought he could get off just doing and saying whatever he pleased was completely beyond him.

He shook his head and opened his mouth to try and console Haru. He wasn't prone to letting his feelings take a hold of him, but on the rare occurrences that they did they took over completely. And Makoto wasn't fond of overly angry Haru. But before he could say a word the stoic boy spoke.

"I'm going to kill them." His voice was steady, but his eyes were filled with emotion. Makoto, already concerned over the words, frowned openly at the other. He was joking right?

But Haru hadn't finished. "All of them. Nagisa, Rei, Rin. Especially Rin. He had no right to say what he did, Makoto. No right to upset you like that." Surprisingly his hands clenched into tight fists and his voice took on an edge that Makoto hadn't ever heard his friend use before. "As if you would even like me like that! It's ridiculous! And even if you did, there's no way that it's okay for him to just spout it out like that, like he's the one with the feelings! Rin just never stops making everything so difficult for me, but he's not allowed to do that to you, Makoto! It's not right!"

Obviously Rin's words had been plaguing Haru since he'd heard them. Makoto felt a sinking feeling in his chest; something he'd thought only happened in books and films. He shook his head, knowing that he had to make things better now. To do that meant completely letting go of his unrequited feelings for his best friend... but if that helped Haru in the long run it was something he was more than prepared for.

The distance between the two of them wasn't much, but Makoto still had to reach over in order to press a hand to Haru's leg. The touch made the ebony haired boy's frown lessen. 

"Listen, Haru," Makoto said, trying to keep his voice quiet so the microphone couldn't pick up on his words. "It's fine." Haru went to argue but Makoto continued over him in an uncharacteristic move. "No, really it's fine. I know that what Rin said bothered you." He took a deep breath. "It bothered me too, him blurting out things like that. But, you don't have to cover up your emotions with this anger, Haru. And you don't have to ruin things with Rin for me. I'm fine, and I'm happy for you. For you both."

Haru's frown had returned, but it wasn't angry this time. Instead it was a look of confusion that he shot at Makoto, his eyes narrowing slightly in thought. "I... don't understand, Makoto."

Makoto smiled warmly, making sure to keep any of his true feelings from invading his face. The next words were going to be difficult: the nausea was increasing by the second.

"I know you like Rin, Haru."

The face Haru pulled next was almost comical: mouth making a large 'O' shape and eyes wide. Makoto understood of course - Haru prided himself on keeping his true feelings from getting in the way of things, and that meant keeping people out of his personal business too. But, Makoto was his true best friend. He could see the signals and the little glances that proved he was right in his thinking. Rin was the only person that had ever been able to make Haru passionate, whether about swimming or about people in general. He ignited something in Haru that Makoto hadn't even been able to glimpse, and that was good for Haru. And really, that was all that mattered.

Haru's voice was slightly croaked when he next tried to speak. "Makoto, I-" He was interrupted by the blaring of his ring tone. Haru coughed with an irritated shake of his head and absently picked up the phone. 

He hadn't even been able to put it on speaker phone before Makoto heard the high pitched shouting of Nagisa on the other side. 

"Haru-chan!" he wailed loudly. Haru pressed the speaker button and the volume increased tenfold. "Where are you guys? We can't see you on the monitor!"

It was faint, especially compared to Nagisa's voice, but Makoto could just make out the sound of Rin's laughter in the background. Makoto shifted a little at it, but Haru physically jumped, eyes blinking rapidly. Makoto was almost beginning to wonder whether Haru was suffering from some sort of claustrophobia as they remained stuck in there - his reactions were getting stranger and stranger. He didn't have time to inquire though.

Haru's voice was higher than usual as he said, "We're still inside. Hiding, Nagisa." It didn't seem like Haru was too aware of what he was saying, with a breathless edge to his tone. He was now avoiding looking at Makoto altogether. The taller boy wondered if him admitting to know how Haru really felt had caused this reaction, or hearing Rin's voice.

Speak of the devil. Rin apparently had gotten closer to the phone as his voice was clear and mocking in tone as it echoed into the cold changing room. "Oh my God, Haru, what's wrong with you? Nagisa was like five seconds away from rushing over there and checking the room to see where you were." That sharp laugh erupted from him again. "Seems like you wanna stay in there after all. Fucking knew it!"

"Shut up, Rin, I'm trying to talk to them. You're the one who almost ruined everything, so butt out." From Nagisa's voice it seemed like this wasn't the first time the two of them had argued that night. Despite his better nature, he allowed himself to smirk a little. They kind of deserved it, trapping them in there like they had and turning the lights off for so long.

Still, that wasn't nice. His mother wouldn't be proud of him for thinking like that. Forgiveness was key; never hold a grudge.

He sighed and took the phone out of Haru's hands which seemed frozen in place as he just sat with his eyes jumping from point to point in the room without stopping. Now Makoto was starting to worry. He'd never seen Haru have a panic attack but it sure looked like the early signs of one.

"Um, guys," he said, trying to be heard over their quibbling. No effect. "Guys! Shut up!" That was the first time he'd ever said anything like that to them, but it seemed to work as they all stopped and nothing but silence, and a little static, could be heard from the receiver.

He glanced once more at Haru who hadn't even flinched at his raised voice. "I think Haru's having a panic attack. You need to let us out!"

A beat of stillness followed his announcement, from both ends. Haru had at least heard what he'd said, his eyes were wide enough that Makoto thought they would start to water any minute, but he said not a word. It was Rei's stable voice that Makoto heard next.

"A panic attack? Are you sure, Makoto-senpai?" Makoto could basically hear him push his glasses up his nose even though they were likely not falling down. "If that is the case, Nagisa-kun, then we need to get him out of there immediately."

"No."

Makoto turned to face Haru, who was looking pale. Admittedly his breathing was a little more controlled, but the brunet couldn't ignore how scared the look he got from the other was.

He shook his head. "Haru, no, listen. You're not well."

"I'm fine, Makoto."

That wasn't true and Makoto was going to make him see sense. This time, at least, he was the one who had to help Haru. And he would. He was not going to sit in here and watch as his friend had a panic attack if he could stop it. And he could. "Haru-"

"I said I'm fine, Makoto!" He snatched the phone from Makoto and immediately hung up the call.

Annoyance twisted his mouth into a small snarl. Why couldn't Haru just listen to him for once? "Haru, please phone them back." He went to take the mobile again, but his hand was swatted away. 

Haru was looking at him intensely. His eyes were a more normal size again, and steady in their gaze - although a slightly wild look remained in them. Makoto swallowed a small lump in his throat, trying to match his friend in the undeclared staring contest. "Stop." He paused, rolling his eyes around for a moment. 

Then he took a deep breath and finally got out what he wanted to say.

"Makoto... we need to talk."


	9. Eighth Hour

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so, so, so sorry for such a late update! But I have now finished Uni for the year, so I should be able to get this story done soon, because there's not much left to go and I have it planned. Anyway, I'm sorry (omg on that cliffhanger too God I can't apologise enough) but I hope that this chapter somewhat lives up to expectations! Thanks for still sticking with this story, and your lovely comments; they mean the world to me! So, yeah.. enjoy! =)

Haruka could clearly remember the day he met Makoto. This shy, little boy in a bright yellow t-shirt had wondered over to where Haruka had been drawing peacefully. Normally he would've just ignored him and carried on with his own business, but there had been something about the boy... an obvious gentleness and passion that had intrigued him even at such a young age. And of course, when Makoto had started to cry for some reason that Haruka still did not understand, he'd had little choice but to try and comfort the boy. Unfortunately (as he'd thought back then) that had cemented the two together for a long time.

It wasn't as terrible as he thought it might be, having a best friend. His own parents were often busy with work, and as his grandmother got older it became more difficult for her to watch over him, so the Tachibana's had quickly made their home open instead. Makoto's mother was warm and loved to fill him up with wonderful food - sometimes even giving in to Haruka's relentless requests for mackerel. Makoto's father told funny stories and taught the two sports, football and baseball (although Haruka had already become strongly enamoured with swimming by this point). It was a home away from home; in some ways, a better home.

But even better than all of that was Makoto himself. Eventually he began to grow out of his shyness - partially because of Haruka's blatant refusal to speak for himself most of the time - and he quickly began to show others himself as the kind and funny soul that Haruka adored. Of course, that led the overwhelming mothering aspect to present itself in full force too, but Haruka learnt to put up with it. They both joined Iwatobi Swim Club, where they fell in love with the sport, the club, and a lot of the people too. Due to Makoto's new found confidence he'd quickly made friends and made sure they would become Haruka's friends too, which Haruka was always grateful to even though he didn't voice it. Nagisa, Yazaki-chan, and even Rin, they all considered Haruka a friend despite his quieter ways. Even though he was never overtly kind to any of them, that he could see, they showered him with their own generosity.

Why had they wanted to be friends with him? 

Why was Makoto friends with him?

He shook his head slightly. It wasn't the first time he'd had the thought. Likely it wouldn't be the last either but it wasn't helping anything. Not like he could just ask without making the other upset. Or cry. He didn't want that. He didn't want any of this. His head was swimming. It was hard to believe they'd been stuck in these changing rooms for over seven hours now. Seven hours! Usually by this time he'd be enjoying his nightly bath just before bed. Could he resent the others for taking that away from him? Yes, he sure as hell could. And would.

It was too much, he decided, the whole situation. Being kept from swimming, kept from his bath. Locked in a cramped room for an inhumane amount of time with only a little food and water to keep him going. Being in there with Makoto. Haruka shifted slightly so he could watch the other without being too obvious. Makoto was already watching him, his face a mixture of confused and uncomfortable. His jaw was set almost defiantly though. Haruka grimaced slightly, wrapping his arms around his chest loosely. When had Makoto gotten so tall anyway? During that stupid basketball game he'd been able to cross the entire room in two steps. Granted the room was relatively small, but it was still impressive.

He'd changed so much though, Makoto. Looking at him now, Haruka could barely believe it was the same little boy who stuttered when he tried to greet people, who hid behind Haruka when he was scared. Now he was confident, tall, and... well, he did still try to hide behind Haruka despite the annoyingly obvious size difference that now existed. But he was different. Popular with girls and boys alike, and always willing to lend a hand even at inconvenience to himself. He was likeable, and kind, and generous.

Looking at Makoto now, all Haruka could see were good things.

_'I know you like Rin, Haru.'_

The words echoed in Haruka's mind. The mere thought of it was preposterous. Sure, Rin was a friend, a good friend even (no matter how much Haruka tried to deny it to himself). But that was all he was, a friend. Surely Rin reciprocated that feeling too.

So where had that come from?

Was it possible that Rin had been right? Did Makoto like Haruka... romantically? 

In some ways, it made sense. If he thought about it carefully, he could understand why the others thought those looks Makoto gave him were aimed in a different way than friendship. But he didn't want it to be true. If it was true it meant that he'd been blind to Makoto's real feelings for a long time, and that made him uncomfortable. It also meant that he'd been unknowingly ignoring Makoto when he would have been coming to terms with something confusing and difficult. It would mean Haruka hadn't been there for his friend in a time of need.

_That_ thought made him angry.

Angry at himself mostly, obviously. He should have been more observant. Haruka had always secretly prided himself on his ability to observe and make correct judgements of situations. He was a good people reader, even if he didn't really care what he read. If he had missed something so important in his best friend of all people... well, he couldn't pride himself any longer. God, but what would Makoto have been feeling if that was the case? Makoto knew very well that Haruka could always see the ins and outs of things. Would he have thought that Haruka didn't care? Or that Haruka didn't want to see it? That he was disgusted with the thought?

No that couldn't be it. He wouldn't let that be it. Makoto knew him better than that. Yes, Haruka judged people easily for letting their emotions rule them... but, Makoto would know that Haruka would understand, right? 

What if Makoto didn't? Would their friendship be ruined over this?

He was angry at Makoto too, he realised. The other should have told him if he liked him. Makoto’s mother had always preached to the two of them that honesty was the key to any good friendship, or relationship in general. They'd taken it different ways: Makoto always broke the truth sweetly and apologetically, trying not to hurt anyone in the process. Haruka had been less caring - always less caring - blurting it out regardless of how anybody else would feel. Makoto should have told him! 

Makoto _would_ have told him.

Every thought he had was making him more confused and angry. He just had to figure out if Makoto really _did_ like him, and then he could advance from there. Subconsciously he began to bite on his lip, something he hadn't done since he'd been very young. It would be an obvious sign to Makoto that he was worried. His thoughts were drifting from one point to another, never deciding fully on one train for too long, distracted and disoriented by other thoughts and emotions flitting themselves into the forefront of his mind. The only thought that seemed to make its way round and round frequently, which made Haruka bite hard down on his bottom lip, was that he wouldn't mind if Makoto did like him.

He wouldn't mind if Makoto liked him.

"What did you want to talk about, Haru?"

It had been such a long time since he'd heard a physical voice that Haruka jumped and bit down too hard, immediately tearing the skin, the metallic taste of blood flooding his mouth. He grimaced, annoyed at himself, and at the taste. It was never pleasant. More important though was the face of his friend watching him uncharacteristically passive. It set Haruka on edge. The look never lasted long on Makoto's face, and only appeared when he was really fed up. Usually when he was tired. He tried to smile and lessen the tension but it had no effect, only making the other don a small frown.

Haruka wracked his brain, his eyes travelling to the ceiling in an attempt to see the memory that Makoto was referring to. What did Haruka want to talk about? Oh yeah, Rin!

Coughing to ease the lock in his throat, he rubbed his hands together delicately. "About us. About what you just said, Makoto."

The brunet sighed, his jaw clenching once again. "What I said? What did I say, Haru?"

Haruka felt his eye twitch slightly at the question. What did he mean by that? Obviously Makoto could remember the damn conversation, why was he making Haruka spell it out?! "You said," he spoke slowly, letting his irritation show clearly, "that I 'like' Rin."

Makoto snorted quietly, his eyes falling to the floor. "Oh yeah."

For just a moment Haruka imagined going up to the other and punching him right in the face. But the image of him having to lean up so high was so embarrassing that he let it go.

"What about it?" Makoto continued after a second.

"Where the hell did it come from?"

Green eyes met his with a wave of incredulity. "Where the...?" A laugh suddenly left the other, a breathless bark that trailed into an irritated sigh. Haruka watched as Makoto’s fists flexed once or twice, uneasiness growing. It wouldn't be undignified if Makoto tried to hit him; no reaching up necessary. "It's just obvious, Haru. And it's fine. I'm happy for you both."

"Stop it!" Haruka yelled, jumping up from his place on the bench, frustration pouring through him and leaking out before he could retain it. "Stop saying you're happy! You're not happy, Makoto, that's plain as day. And anyway, I don't even like Rin so why are you saying such stupid things?"

Pausing, Haruka took a deep breath trying to halt more words that he wanted to throw. It was ridiculous. Even if Haruka did like Rin, Makoto lying about being happy was more annoying than anything else. Who knew that he had such a liar for a friend?

Just as Haruka was absorbed in his feelings of anger, Makoto seemed to be staying impossibly calm. He'd barely flinched at Haruka's yelling, his eyes narrowing slightly in thought, the only change in his face that Haruka could see. Were their roles reversed today or was Haruka only just now noticing that Makoto could be just as stubborn as he himself?

Seconds ticked by without another word, Makoto watching Haruka with a calculating look, and Haruka glaring back. _I should say something. He's not going to speak to me, he's being too stupid._ These thoughts hit Haruka at every turn, followed by opposites. _Why should I speak again? I just finished. If he's too stupid to respond that's his problem._ Even worse, Haruka knew the thoughts were immature, but he couldn't rid himself of them. His emotions were all over the place now that he'd let them out of their usual cage.

Luckily Makoto did speak first. "You... really don't like Rin?"

He said it in a hurry as if the words were poisonous. 

Haruka smiled, happy that he hadn’t been the first to break. Happy that Makoto was finally seeing the truth. "No, Makoto. I really, _really_ don't like Rin."

Makoto shut his eyes slowly, as still as a statue. He was breathing heavily, Haruka noticed as he watched intently, as if his entire body was expelling itself of long worn unwanted baggage. Never before had Haruka seen his best friend like that. It was definitely suspicious. Haruka was starting to think his friends were right. He supposed he should be more concerned about the idea of Makoto liking him. Or did he not mind? Why did his mind insist on going over this again?

_Maybe you should just let him know. Surely that would make this whole thing easier, if he knows that you could like him back._

That was the logical thing to do, of course. But then what would happen to their friendship? Would all those years, as long as either of them could remember, just… gone? As if they’d never known each other? Haruka couldn’t let that happen, and he sure as hell wouldn’t! Makoto was his rock, he knew that even if he would never let anyone know that – especially Makoto himself. Losing him was unthinkable. Over such a thing as ‘liking’ to boot!

There was a reason Haruka had a loathing for emotions. Complications like this.

Not having emotions was difficult though. It took a lot for him to hide them from others, or to keep them locked up tight enough that at least nobody noticed he had them. Impossible at times, but usually he kept a good watch on them. Others didn’t have the same control though. Makoto didn’t have the same control. And that was why they were in this mess, locked in a changing room going on nine hours. Blaming Makoto though… seemed wrong. It wasn’t his fault that others had noticed his feelings. Haruka definitely couldn’t blame him for that. Especially as he hadn’t noticed them himself. That was still eating away at him – why hadn’t he noticed sooner? 

Maybe he’d been ignoring it. That made sense. But it was annoying to think that way. Why would he ignore something so important about his best friend?!

_Because you’re a bad friend._

If there was a way to shut up his conscience he would like to know it.

Haruka looked to Makoto again. He was still unmoving, his eyes still closed. Despite himself, Haruka was annoyed. Why wasn’t he saying anything? It was Makoto’s job to talk when there was silence. An unspoken duty, but he was sure that the other was aware of it. Haruka couldn’t be the one to confess first. It was too embarrassing.

Wait. Confess? Haruka had something to confess?

He ran a hand through his hair, sighing miserably. Was it being trapped that made him think of such things, or were they his true feelings? He had a feeling he was being disingenuous with himself; bad, yes, but worse would be to carry that onto Makoto. Haruka would do almost anything than intentionally cause his best friend harm. If Makoto liked him…

Well, that was the key: _if_ Makoto liked him. Haruka could still feel a part of him unconvinced to the notion. Why? He couldn’t really say. But he could feel it, like an itch in the middle of his back that he just couldn’t reach no matter how hard he tried. 

His eyes began to trace around the room unknowingly, searching for an answer. An answer to a question he couldn’t remember. It was infuriating. The room was getting dimmer by the second, he thought. Gone 11pm now, he could hear the wind whistling through the unobstructed air, journeying through gaps between buildings and through new leaves on old trees, rustling noisily. Free. Unlike Haruka who was staring at the same walls.

Dim as the room was, at least the light was back on. His anger at Nagisa and the others still had not dissipated over that. Sometimes Haruka wondered why he put up with the small blond, swimming relays aside. He caused more trouble than he solved with his ‘genius’ ideas that seemed to come about whenever he was left to himself for more than a second. Truthfully, Haruka wasn’t sure that Rei even helped much despite his initial cool impression. And Rin… well the less to be said about him the better.

Now with the room lit again, Haruka could see not only the cracked tiles of the changing room floor, and the small puddle of water that had built up from the dripping shower head, but he could also make out his and Makoto’s bags still piled by the door. Next to them lay the basketball that they had played with earlier. Haruka found himself glaring at the ball before he could help it. His arms had also crossed tightly over his chest. He was perplexed. Why was he feeling such strong emotions from staring at a basketball? It couldn’t be from the game earlier: he wasn’t even remotely annoyed about that. No, it couldn’t be that…

Why did Makoto even have the ball with him anyway? Haruka couldn’t remember.

Shrugging, he turned his focus back to Makoto who now seemed to be watching him sadly. Although, when Haruka’s eyes met his momentarily the greens immediately hardened up once more, blocking any blatant show of emotion from the blues sight. Haruka sighed, trying not to roll his eyes. Irritation was abundant within him, and Makoto’s mood swings weren’t helping. Why was he sad now? Haruka had just told him that he had no feelings for Rin, surely that was a good thing! Now Makoto could realise that he and Haruka had a chan – oh.

Oh, that was right. Haruka’s eyes widened with realisation, mouth falling slightly agape. Absently he noticed his posture slump slightly. Kisumi. That was why Makoto had the ball. He was going to play basketball with Kisumi. 

Now it was Haruka’s turn to close his eyes. Of course things couldn’t be that simple. Of course Kisumi had to get in the way again! Lip curling slightly in distaste, Haruka swivelled to turn away from his friend, both hands moving to push his fringe out of his face for a second. He should cut his hair, he hated it when the thing got in his eyes forcing him to mess with it countless times a day. But Makoto liked it long.

_But Makoto likes it like that? What does that matter, Makoto likes Kisumi more!_

Ugh. If only Kisumi had stayed gone. The stupid boy just had to come back at such a crucial point in their lives, didn’t he?

Haruka couldn’t even blame Kisumi. What was there to blame! If Makoto liked Kisumi that was fine. Haruka didn’t like Makoto like that anyway, did he? He was just going to say it to make Makoto feel better. 

Then why did he feel so angry at Kisumi again?

No! There was no way that Haruka liked Makoto. It had been a spur of the moment thing, his idea to confess. That was all. The thought had never crossed his mind before Rin had come along spouting his nonsense again. Surely it would have if Haruka had been subconsciously hiding romantic feelings for his best friend all these years, wouldn’t it? Yes. That made sense. He would have thought of going on dates with Makoto, kissing Makoto, other things with Makoto. But he hadn’t. He hadn’t had those feelings, those thoughts.

_You’re a jealous friend, that’s all. You always have been._

That could be it. That probably was it. Of course that meant that Haruka had to get over that childish impudence straight away else end up hurting Makoto. If Makoto liked Kisumi then Haruka would be happy for him. For them both.

_‘It's just obvious, Haru. And it's fine. I'm happy for you both.’_

Haruka wanted to scream. Makoto was the furthest thing from a jealous friend, so how could they both be trying to say the same thing? Letting go of his grip on his hair and letting it fall back into its annoying place, Haruka began to rub at his eyes instead. He would just have to ask Makoto, and then he could figure out what his own feelings were. Trying to decipher it by himself wasn’t working. There was nothing more to do.

He took one last deep breath, blinking rapidly to get some moisture back into his eyes, and turned back around to face Makoto.

“You like Kisumi though, don’t you?”

And at the same time, “It would be easier if you liked Rin.”

Both of them paused for a second, listening to what the other had said. Makoto began to frown just as Haruka shook his head in disbelief. It would be easier if he liked Rin? What did that even mean? He decided to ask.

“What?” he said.

Makoto ignored him. “I like Kisumi?”

_Yes you like Kisumi!_ He wanted to shout, to rage, at Makoto’s tone. He sounded like he was trying to hold back laughter, which made Haruka want to flare up, already feeling a rush of blood filling his cheeks. Another old habit, he began to bite on his tongue gently to stop himself saying anything stupid. God, but only Makoto could ever insight this sort of reaction in him; he had Haruka acting like a little kid again.

Just as he decided to speak – calmly! Speak calmly – to inform Makoto that he did, in fact, like Kisumi and had done since Middle School, the other did just as Haruka hadn’t wanted him to. Makoto began to laugh. In the small changing rooms the sound echoed horribly off the cold walls and tiles, hitting Haruka from every direction.

It annoyed him… and yet, Haruka was glad to see the taller boy laughing again. It had been a few hours, three or four at least, since he’d seen anything other than a scared or ill look on the usually smiling face. It made him smile despite himself, his heart thumping a little faster than it should be. After a moment, they were both laughing loudly. Haruka thought to what Nagisa and the others must be thinking on the other side of that microphone. Probably that they’d gone insane. Haruka wasn’t sure that they’d be entirely wrong.

They carried on like that for a while until Makoto began to hiccough and he made over to the bench where he picked up his long forgotten water bottle to take a sip. Haruka’s laughter died down as he watched the other, head tilting upwards slightly as the figure got closer. Silence wrapped around them quickly. The raven haired boy wanted to fidget at the combination of that and the proximity between them once again, but he couldn’t bring himself to. He was caught up in watching his friend pick up the bottle and drink from it. The way his head tilted up and his light hair fell away from his face. Those green eyes closed as his lips pursed comfortably around the top, Adam’s apple bobbing as the water travelled down his throat. Did Makoto shave yet? Had he reached that time in his life where he had to shave every day? Haruka hadn’t, picking up the gene form his dad that made it so he didn’t really grow facial hair quickly. Had Makoto ever nicked his neck shaving? Not that Haruka could see. He’d have to touch to really know.

Oh, God, but he wanted to touch.

The fingers at his side twitched, so Haruka busied them with grasping his trousers instead. He was _not_ going to embarrass himself any further. This was the end of the embarrassment train; he had already missed his stop a few hours back. Instead he waited in silence for the other to finish his sip, acutely aware that he was perhaps stood too close. Moving back would just alert Makoto to that fact though. Silent and still, that was how Haruka was going to play it now.

When Makoto did decide to finally put the cap on his bottle, his eyes moved to watch Haruka from the peripheral. Even that put Haruka on edge, Makoto watching him so calmly. Neither moved though, just stared at one another for a good minute or so. Haruka could feel his nails scraping at the rough material of his school trousers; he could hear it slightly.

Makoto dropped eye contact first, his eyes moving to stare at the bench in front of him. He heaved a heavy sigh and then sat down. Now _his_ head was tilted upwards to look at Haruka. The smaller boy gulped a lump in his throat. Makoto smiled.

“I don’t like Kisumi like that, Haru.” Makoto’s voice was gentle again, the voice that Haruka was more used to hearing – not the agitated tone from earlier. Their eyes were locked in a battle that neither seemed capable of winning. Haruka had always liked Makoto’s eyes, the green reminding him of the beginning of Spring, just when it was getting warm enough to swim again. Haruka wished he wasn’t so trapped.

Makoto sighed again and continued in a quieter tone. “I like you, Haru. I… really like you, Haru.”

His heart skipped a beat. Boy, was he trapped.


End file.
